Dear Diary, I Hate His Guts
by Kiaimi
Summary: Dear diary, Sawada Tsunayoshi is the most pathetic excuse for a person I have ever met. For as long as I've known him, he's never managed to do anything right. Not to mention he's a coward with absolutely no redeeming qualities. In other words completely no good. So why can't I get him out of my head? God I hate his guts. 27OC. 2nd person POV.
1. Chapter 1

**This is something very different from my usual writing. I wanted to try out a drabble one shot type of thing, but I ended up enjoying the idea too much and got carried away. I'm thinking of making a 'dear diary i hate his guts' for different reborn characters, but as a one shot/drabble kind of thing whereas Tsuna gets a whole story mostly because I've never written a fic centered around Tsuna. Less focus on actual plot events and more focus on character growth and romance. The italics are considered the character (you) writing in their diary. This is actually my first time writing a fic in second person. I wanted to make this fic seem more personal in terms of perspective so I alternate between first person and second person. Treat this as more of a prologue if anything. There may be some jumping around in events and the omission or addition of certain scenes.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

You blankly stared down at the mousy brown haired boy, completely certain that he was going to wet his pants from how furiously he was shaking in fear.

 _I hate his guts._

You blinked and kneeled down, gathering the papers off the ground. He hurriedly followed your actions, his hands still shaking. As you reached for the last sheet of paper, your hand brushed against his. He panicked, once again dropping the papers.

You sighed, starting the task once more.

"I'm sorry." he managed to mumble out.

 _He was always such a pushover. He never even tried to stand up for himself._

"Maybe next time someone makes you do something you refuse instead of being pushed around." you spat out, snatching the papers he collected out of his hands.

He yelped at the sudden action and you threw another glare his way. "Especially when you can't even get the job done." You swiftly spun on your heel and walked away as he watched the distance between you two gradually increase.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, his eyes lowering to the ground.

 _People go around calling him no good and he doesn't even do anything to prove them wrong. It's annoying having to see someone be so incompetent every day._

"REBORN!"

A gust of wind hit you as a speeding blur dashed past you. You clicked your tongue at the sudden mess of a state your hair was in. Who the hell was that? When you entered school your ears perked at the feminine shrieking coming from the gate. You looked up to see none other than Sawada Tsunayoshi with a distraught look on his face. This was nothing out of the ordinary.

However, this time he appeared to be only in his underwear and accompanied by an infant. You gave them both a disdainful look before walking away. From the corner of your eye you could see him shrink in embarrassment.

 _It seemed like the only thing he managed to do well was make an embarrassment out of himself. Couldn't he just cut the pathetic act out?_

"Sawada's gonna get his ass beat by Mochida for confessing to Sasagawa."

"Just like no good Tsuna to not know his place."

The boys erupted into laughter whereas the girls surrounded Sasagawa, ensuring she wasn't traumatized from the incident this morning. You sat at your desk rewriting your notes. You didn't find much interest in the gossip. What was so funny about Sawada getting beat up? It's not as if the boys didn't harass him on a daily basis already. Was making a public sport of it supposed to be more entertaining?

You rolled your eyes, trying your best to focus on your notes. Squinting, you muttered out a curse. Of course you somehow managed to transfer the information incorrectly. Time to get out a new sheet of paper.

 _All anyone in the class did was make fun of him because of it too. He didn't even have any friends. I guess I can't say much seeing as I'm not exactly Ms. Popular, but at least I wasn't the resident social outcast. He was hopeless._

"Nice job yesterday Sawada!" a boy shouted out, patting Sawada on the back.

You blinked several times at the sight. Sawada gave a shy smile, rubbing the back of his head. Was this a practical joke? No. These boys never even tried to fake kindness to Sawada. Did you wake up in an alternate universe? You pinched your cheek, a stinging pain hitting you. Definitely not a dream. Looks like Sawada wasn't as pathetic as you thought.

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 **I already blabbed a lot in the top, but please review. I wanna know what you guys think or if there's anything I can improve on. Anyways let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**More daily life type of stuff.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

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 _Dear diary, things were finally back to normal._

Sawada's sudden popularity didn't last long. After the volleyball match everything decidedly went back to normal. His fifteen minutes of fame were officially over, but no one dared mess with the boy after what had become of Mochida. It had been a while since the classroom was this peaceful. You relished this moment knowing it wouldn't last long.

 _Today a new student transferred in._

You could hear the buzz of your classmates throughout the room. Girls were fawning over his "bad boy" appearance while the boys were freaking out over how dangerous he looked.

 _Gokudera Hayato. Permanent scowl all over his face. He looked like a jerk. Where exactly was the appeal?_

As the teacher directed him to his seat, he blatantly ignored instead choosing to stomp over in Sawada's direction. You raised a brow, watching him harshly kick over Sawada's desk.

 _Oh right there was none. Just your average delinquent bullying the weak. And of course Sawada just took it. What's new?_

* * *

Nezu sensei began calling out names to hand back the science test. Upon hearing your name you stood up, walking up to him. You didn't have to look at your paper to know you had gotten another 100 when he commented his usual 'Fantastic job, you'll go far in life.' He smiled and put a hand on your shoulder causing you to frown. You shrugged him off and walked back to your seat, ignoring his remark. He only used it as a segue to put down those who had done horrendously, that person usually being Sawada.

 _Managed another 100 for this test. I studied hours so of course I did well. What I got that I didn't want was another remark from Nezu sensei. He always gave me the creeps. That hand on shoulder thing he was doing? Couldn't that be considered sexual harassment?_

"Let's say there was a sole student lowering the average of the class." he began, staring down at Sawada, repulse prominent in his voice.

You rolled your eyes knowing full well this was the beginning of his lecture.

 _The verbal abuse was another issue. I never slipped up, but if I ever did I know I'd never hear the end of it. What kind of adult goes around degrading children? As if that wasn't pathetic in itself. Not to mention his need to brag about his credentials. What a snob._

He flung around Sawada's paper, flashing the score to everyone. They all chuckled while he continued with his degrading comments.

The door slid open and Gokudera walked in, glaring down Nezu sensei. You couldn't help but smirk. That jerk deserved it. What happened next shocked everyone in the room. Gokudera loudly greeted Sawada, dropping his characteristic scowl.

 _And it turns out everything was not back to normal. Sawada somehow befriended Gokudera. If you could even call it a friendship. The other boys were certain he was Gokudera's lackey. At least the failure was in better hands now._

Noticing Gokudera's connection with Tsuna, Nezu sensei deemed this as a weak point. However, he only further aggravated Gokudera, causing the boy to grab him by the collar. You had to stifle a chuckle at this point. Maybe Gokudera wasn't so bad after all.

After class the two teenagers were dragged to the principal's office and Nezu sensei decided it would be fitting to take you there too. You had no idea why seeing as you were uninvolved in this whole thing. Had he seen you hold back a laugh at the fearful face he had made?

"Sawada and company should be immediately expelled!" he shouted out.

You winced as his voice hit your ears. You knew you weren't part of this Sawada and company nonsense, so would he just tell you why you were here? Was it because you were class representative? Joint responsibility for every action of every student in the class? Because that sounded like nonsense.

"Even the top student in my class witnessed their barbaric actions. Isn't that right?" he asked, prodding you with his gaze.

You held back a grimace from how he was looking at you. It made you feel slimy. Sawada stared at you and spoke up. "Is there anything we can do to avoid expulsion?"

Nezu sensei smirked. "As a matter of fact…"

Did Sawada Tsunayoshi just stand up for you? You blinked at him, confused. Since when did he have any balls?

Nezu sensei explained the task. Find a buried time capsule and bring it out. The three of you were dismissed and you decided to go home. This was Sawada and Gokudera's problem, not yours. When you turned to exit, you noticed Sawada panicking.

You sighed. Might as well ask what's wrong with him since he got you out of a sticky situation.

"What's wrong with you?" you spat out. Being friendly wasn't exactly your forte.

"I don't want to be expelled." he responded, slightly pale.

"You're not interested in schoolwork. Wouldn't it be more fun for you to stay at home anyway?"

"I-it would, but…" his voice trailed off.

So he's got something worth coming to school for? Wasn't he always bullied or made fun of? You couldn't help but wonder what would be so great that would make even Sawada want to go to school.

As you two passed by the teacher's lounge you could hear Nezu sensei talking to another teacher.

"The principal forgot there was no time capsule buried here 15 years ago. Those bastards will be expelled no matter what. And I'll find a way to get back at that class representative for making me look bad in front of the principal."

"That asshole." you seethed with rage. He was gonna punish you for something he decided to drag you into? "Sawada I'm gonna help you out."

"Wait really?" he asked, surprised. "What are we going to do though? There's no time cap-"

Sawada's sentence was cut short at the sound of an explosion right outside the school. Sawada was filled with despair as he heard each passing explosion. He slumped onto the floor, completely giving up. You glared down at him, ready to kick him up. This is why you hated this boy, always giving up so easily. Just as you readied your foot the infant from the other day appeared wielding a gun. He shot Sawada right in the forehead as you watched in shock.

Sawada jumped up from the ground clad in his boxers and hopped out the window. You rushed to the window watching as he broke open the ground with only his fist. There were more explosions and the two appeared out of the smoke. Nezu sensei ran to the scene and was confronted by Gokudera. He pushed old test papers into the older man's face with a deadly look.

 _So I guess things were definitely not back to normal. Nezu sensei got fired for being a liar. Who would've thought he got worse grades than Sawada? And that failure? Maybe he wasn't so bad after all._

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 **Hope you enjoyed!** **Review if you can!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm actually really enjoying these daily life arc chapters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

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 _Dear diary, if I were to die right now the only regret I would have is getting involved in other people's nonsense. Those two idiots Sawada and Yamamoto. How did I even get myself into that mess?_

"Hey everyone! Yamamoto is about to jump off the roof!" one of the boys shouted out, rushing into the classroom.

You raised a brow. If he was really jumping off why was he alerting people? Yamamoto didn't seem the type to fake a prank so why was he committing suicide in the first place?

"He stayed after school yesterday and broke his arm from practicing too hard."

Ah, that explains it. The only thing that boy seemed to have an interest in was baseball. Why didn't he just wait until his arm was healed? It's not as if he were paralyzed.

Everyone ran out the door while you, Sawada, and Sasagawa remained.

"Aren't you coming Tsuna-kun?" she called out.

Sawada looked between you two, hesitance in his voice. "Uh...yeah...a-after I go to the bathroom."

You rolled your eyes at his weak excuse. Sasagawa left the room leaving you two behind. "Aren't you going?" he asked brown eyes wide with concern.

You closed your book and let out a deep breath, pulling off your reading glasses. "I don't think this is any of my business. He's not going to do it anyway."

"What do you mean he's not gonna do it anyway? You don't know that for a fact!" he shouted back. Was Sawada really yelling at you?

He watched you raise a brow at him and stuttered out another response. "I-I just meant that Yamamoto really puts his all into baseball. He takes it seriously and if someone doesn't go to stop him then he could be seriously injured."

"Then why don't you stop him? I doubt I would be able to stop him. I barely even know him."

"I just think it would be best if everyone went. You're the class representative, so if there's anyone he could talk to, you might be the best person for it."

Oh so this was about you being class representative. It's not as if you asked for the job. They were based off test grades and you studied like crazy. Not to mention you couldn't shake the feeling that Sawada was pushing responsibility onto you to ease his own guilt. The boy continued staring at you with large puppy dog eyes. You were weak to people asking you favors. You clicked your tongue and stomped out the door.

"You coming or what?"

 _Mistake number 1 was feeling pity. How could I have fallen for Sawada's puppy eyes when he wasn't even cute? He was like one of those puppies that someone abandoned on the street. Pathetic and hard to refuse._

"Yamamoto you're taking it too far!" "This isn't funny! You could get hurt."

The crowd of students gathered on the roof continuously pleading to the dejected baseball star.

He stood on the opposite side of the rusty iron fence, a sardonic smile on his face. "Sorry, but that's not true. After the baseball God threw me away I have nothing."

Tsuna panicked beside you as you scoffed. Baseball God? Jesus Christ it was just a broken arm. Give it two weeks and he'll be in prime condition. Unable to stand it you sauntered out to the middle of the crowed.

"Yamamoto." You called out.

He turned his head, slightly surprised. "Oh class rep it's you."

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" you questioned him.

"Well if you couldn't tell I was planning on jumping off the roof." he replied sarcastically.

Since when was Yamamoto this rude? "Well if you couldn't tell I was planning on telling you how dumb of an idea this is."

"You wouldn't understand."

 _Mistake number 2, letting my emotions get the better of me. When dealing with someone trying to kill themselves it really isn't best to get angry at them._

"Yeah I don't understand which is why I'm telling you to quit it. If you wait long enough your arm will heal. If you jump now you lose your life or possibly gain permanent damage to your arm."

"You've never failed anything class rep. You don't know how I feel."

"Yeah I've never failed, but you think I'd kill myself over failing? I'd just try harder and never fail again. Someone like you who's so ready to give up after one hurdle is worse than a failure."

"Oh you don't say?" His sardonic smile returning once more. "Our oh-so smart class rep, much better than the rest of us, always looking down from her pedestal."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" You asked him. You weren't on a pedestal. It's not as if you thought you were better than everybody. They were all just lacking something. It wasn't you, it was obviously them.

Maybe Yamamoto made a good point…

You opened your mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Sawada crash landing to your side. He frantically looked around, his panic obvious.

"Tsuna…" Yamamoto looked back at him. "If you came to stop me it's no use. You should be able to understand my feelings. For someone called no good Tsuna all the time you can understand the feeling of preferring to die over failing right?"

God, Sawada was just gonna push the idiot into the wrong direction. You began to speak, but Sawada muttered out his response. Although he had the same hesitant stutter, there was strength in his response.

"No… You and I are different so…"

His voice trailed off while you watched in interest. Sawada might pull this off.

Yamamoto scoffed, pulling out his sarcasm again. You were so gonna knock this boy out once you got the chance to.

"I'm a pathetic person who would have regrets when dying… Thinking it's a waste to die from something like this."

So he knew was pathetic and despite how crappy everything was he still didn't want to die. Honestly speaking you were intrigued. Sawada knew he didn't put effort into anything, but he also knew that he was better off living than he was dead. At least he wasn't completely a lost cause.

"So I can't understand your feelings…sorry...later!" He shouted off running. And there went the tiny bit of respect you gained for the boy.

"Wait Tsuna" Yamamoto called out tugging the back of his shirt. Sawada fell back, grabbing you along with him in his attempt to steady himself. The three of you tumbled into the fence and right off the school roof.

 _Mistake number 3, being anywhere near Sawada in a location where he could put me in potential danger._

You felt the wind pushing against your body and immediately brought your arms up to cover your face. You were gonna die, but in the off chance you survived why not protect something valuable? Besides you were falling face first and you knew your mother would probably want to keep the casket open during your funeral to give relatives a last look at your face. Scars wouldn't leave a good final impression.

REBORN!

You heard a scream and felt an arm around your waist. You squeezed your eyes shut only opening them when everything was still. So this is what death felt like? You peeked out of one eye, seeing Yamamoto standing across from you. You looked up and noticed Sawada had tucked you under his arm and had wrapped it around your waist. Your eyes widened at his underwear clad appearance.

"If we're dead, why are you the only one in your underwear Sawada?" You blurted out.

Yamamoto laughed and you threw a glare at him. "Don't worry class rep, we're both alive. Sawada saved us while we were falling."

"We're alive?" You asked, looking up at the two of them.

They nodded. You removed yourself from Sawada's hold and breathed a sigh of relief. As you came to, the rage filled you.

"You idiots!" You lashed out at them. "You got me involved in some stupid mess and almost got me killed in the middle of it! I am so frustrated right now and I cannot believe I could've died because of some nonsense I wasn't even involved in! What is wrong with you two? How could you involve some random bystander in all of this?"

They both looked at one another before turning to you. You huffed out another angry breath, ready to shut down any comeback they could possibly make.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you make a face like that class rep." Yamamoto remarked.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" You harshly spat out.

"That's your usual voice." he responded. Tsuna nodded his head furiously in agreement.

"You're always really calm and when you get angry you get really quiet or snippy. I don't think I've ever seen you let out all your anger. Maybe that's why you always look like you're in a bad mood."

You glared at him. "I do not."

"You see that's the face you always make." he laughed pointing at your glare. This boy was really gonna get a punch to his head if he didn't watch himself.

You could see Sawada staring at you from the corner of your eye. "If you have something to say, say it."

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I just think you'd look a lot nicer if you smiled more often."

You felt your cheeks heat up. "I do smile!" you shouted back which was followed by another one of Yamamoto's laughs and another bout of his teasing.

 _Mistake number 4_ was _asking Sawada Tsunayoshi for his opinion._

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 **Hope you enjoyed! Review if you can!**


	4. Chapter 4

**School started for me and I had a really packed schedule bc I was gonna quit my job, but I finally got to finishing the chapter. A bit longer and kind of a filler chapter to somehow get her into their life. I'm planning more daily life stuff to write. Hopefully I'll get more time to update.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

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 _Dear diary, what am I doing?_

You let out a frustrated growl and went back to your blank expression determined to try again. You could smile, of course you could. Who exactly did those two think they were? Sawada with his 'you'd look better if you smiled more' and Yamamoto with his 'up on your pedestal, always in a bad mood' bullshit. No way was that true.

A knock on the door caught your attention. "Onee-san, can you hurry up? I have to use the bathroom."

You reached for the knob before staring back in the mirror, now attempting a casual smile. Instead it looked as if someone was pulling back your cheeks and forcing you to smile. You groaned, slamming your forehead against the wall. Why were you so bad at this? Why did it even matter? It was just Sawada and Yamamoto. You weren't gonna let them get to you, definitely not.

* * *

"Morning class rep!' Yamamoto greeted you, holding his hand up.

"Hm." you acknowledged him with a nod.

"Still not in a good mood I see." he teased.

"I am in SUCH a good mood!" you shouted back, causing him to erupt into laughter.

 _Somehow Yamamoto Takeshi convinced himself that bothering me on a daily basis was a-okay. It just wasn't enough that the last time he talked to me I almost fell off a building. Now he had to make it a point to harass me._

"Oh Tsuna." Yamamoto pointed out, before cheerfully greeting the boy.

"Morning Yamamoto." he responded. He looked over at you, hesitating before mumbling a greeting.

 _Then there was Sawada. I always thought he was dense, but Yamamoto was another level. At least one of them knew to keep their distance._

Once class began the teacher reminded everyone of the upcoming math test. You could almost hear the collective groans of the class as the air grew heavy. Math wasn't your favorite, but it was tolerable. You'd definitely need to do some review and practice.

You found yourself glancing over to Sawada who was of course having a mental breakdown on his desk. For someone who didn't put any effort into schoolwork, he sure did stress a lot. If he just studied wouldn't it be fine?

* * *

When the last class of the day finished you were ready to dive out of that classroom and go home. The faster you went home, the faster you could clear math studying from your to do list. Right as you stood up from your seat you saw Yamamoto stop in front of you.

 _But of course it was the more annoying one who had to be all chummy._

"So class rep, how about we all study together?" he smiled down at you.

You grimaced. At this point you really didn't care whether or not your show of outward discontent would bother him. There was really no other way he would get the hint.

"I think that's a good idea." responded a squeaky voice from below.

You glanced down to see a toddler at your side. You had noticed him hanging around Sawada earlier, but never thought much of it. The boy was a lost cause anyway, so it didn't surprise you if his social circle was this limited.

"No thanks." you responded, trying to walk past the two of them. However, Yamamoto was blocking a good portion of the aisle and didn't seem intent on budging.

"Oh come on. It'll be more fun studying in a group than alone."

You continued frowning. The boy really didn't know when to quit. "I study better alone." you curtly responded.

Yamamoto slightly frowned. "Just one day won't hurt. You're smart and we need all the help we can get."

Was he playing up to your ego now? You rolled your eyes while he inquiringly looked at you. Unlike Sawada, this boy had too much pride to give you the puppy dog eyes, but he held an intense stare that was unnerving you. You may not have liked him, but he was undeniably attractive and you could feel the heat rising to your cheeks with his unwavering gaze.

God. Why did you have to be so weak to people asking you favors? You clicked your tongue and managed to mumble out a response. "Why're you asking me anyway? Gokudera is smart. He's more than enough for helping you and Sawada."

He let out a small chuckle. "That's true, but I was hoping to even out the numbers. So what do you say?"

He ended his sentence with the same look he had on before and you wanted to smash your face into the desk. Is this how he got people to do things for him? Did he know he had some supernatural power only attractive people had? Maybe this idiot wasn't actually an idiot, but a conniving manipulative piece of-

Yamamoto leaned down in front of your face and waved his hand back and forth in front of your eyes causing you to jolt your head back. "What was that for?" you hissed out, certain your cheeks were red. He had been only several centimeters away from your face.

"You were spacing out. Are you okay? Your face is red." he said, indeed confirming your thoughts. "Maybe you're sick." he asked reaching a hand out to your forehead.

You fiercely swatted it away. "No I'm fine! I'll join the study group. Just give me the info."

You looked down, trying to avoid eye contact. The toddler looked at you with an amused expression. Was this kid mocking you? He looked like he was smirking. How embarrassing was this whole situation that even a baby was making fun of you for being a mess? You forced yourself to look up at Yamamoto as his face lit up at your response.

"Great! We're meeting at Tsuna's house this weekend. Get there by 1."

"I don't know where he lives."

"Oh that's right." he looked up thinking of a solution before pulling out his phone. "Here let's exchange numbers." You pulled out your phone and tried your best to hold back a scream.

 _Did I commit some kind of grave mistake in a past life? Why was it that the boy I was trying to avoid at all costs just forcefully pushed his way into my life?_

* * *

After Yamamoto forced his contact info onto you, he messaged you directions to Sawada's house. At first he wanted to meet with you beforehand and have you two walk there together so you wouldn't get lost, but you were not letting that happen. First it starts with the contact info, then he knows where you live, and next thing you know you actually don't mind being around him. Not gonna happen, not in this lifetime.

You walked to the Sawada residence and saw Sasagawa Kyoko waiting in front of the door. She turned her head and gave you a smile. "Class rep, I didn't know you were coming."

"Yeah, Yamamoto kind of forced me into it."

The two of you made small talk until Sawada opened the door. "Kyoko-chan you came."

You rolled your eyes at how elated he sounded. His cheeks had a dust of pink and you could see his brown eyes darting around nervously. You snorted. Just one look and it all clicked. Sasagawa was the reason he didn't want to be expelled. Anyone could see he was a love-struck idiot. He came out of his daze and noticed you with your arms crossed and your usual apathetic expression.

"Class rep?" he asked, his voice giving away his confusion. He didn't expect you to be here obviously. "U-um what are you doing here? I-I mean Yamamoto told me you'd be coming, but I didn't actually expect you to come…"

His voice grew quieter towards the end of his sentence and he looked down. You shrugged your shoulders, pushing past him. "Well here I am." you muttered.

* * *

An hour into your study session with the group and you were already prepped for the test. You were gonna ace it. It helped that you reviewed and practiced before today because you knew for a fact you were getting nothing done at Sawada's house. Yamamoto and Sawada seemed to be lost causes, so you split into two miniature groups for one-on-one study sessions. Gokudera and Sasagawa had Sawada covered while you were helping Yamamoto.

Yamamoto didn't see much interest in studying and tried holding a conversation instead. However, you shot him down whenever you could and continued pushing with the review. Eventually he got into it and started getting questions right. Sawada on the other hand looked to be struggling. If it wasn't Gokudera's incomprehensible explanations, it was Sasagawa getting too close to him. When she leaned towards him and looked up, you swore he was gonna have a stroke.

"Why don't we switch tutors? Yamamoto seems to have gotten the hang of it already."

You looked up to see the same toddler in a suit that followed Sawada everywhere standing next to the table.

"Besides, Gokudera may not have to study, but you're taking up Kyoko's time too, Tsuna."

"Ah…" his cheeks reddened out of embarrassment. You shifted over to Sawada's side, switching seats with Sasagawa. You could see his former glee replaced with anxiety when you sat down. You leaned over, frowning at his progress. He had gotten all the practice problems wrong so far and there was some strange gibberish written on his scrap paper. You picked up the pencil and rolled your neck. This was gonna take some effort.

* * *

As you showed Sawada the method for solving the problem, Gokudera glared at you. You ignored him and let Sawada try and solve the problem. You pressed your fingertips against your temples when he got it wrong...again. You sighed, closing your eyes for a second.

The silence was interrupted by Gokudera clicking his tongue. "Can't you even teach properly?"

"Excuse me?" you scoffed. "It's not as if your nonsensical explanations were helping him. And it's not my fault if he doesn't get it. Yamamoto was able to do it after I explained it to him."

Sawada slumped over. Was he giving up again? He was never gonna pass the test with this.

"Sawada." you said in a calm voice. He tensed up, but you continued anyway. "Try again. For every question you get wrong we're gonna do ten practice problems."

"Ten problems?!" he shrieked.

"Do you want to do better or not?" you asked, hands on your hips and a look of annoyance on your face. "Practice is the only way to get better."

"She's right Tsuna." Reborn agreed. "Besides if it were me you'd be doing 1000 practice problems instead."

You stared at Sawada with a questioning look. "I've been meaning to ask you this, but you don't have any siblings right? Because this kid doesn't look anything like you."

"I'm his home tutor." replied the child.

"He means cousin!" Sawada blurted out, obviously flustered.

"Okay?" you raised a brow. There was really no point in prying any further after witnessing his reaction. "Let's just move onto the next problem."

* * *

A few hours had passed and Sawada was actually getting the hang of it. You proudly gave yourself a mental pat on the back. He was definitely still a work in progress, but hey maybe he could actually score higher than a 50 on this test.

"It's getting late Tsuna-kun. I should get home soon." Sasagawa spoke up, packing her bag.

You looked over at the clock. It was already 7 and the sun was starting to set. You told your mom you would be home by dinner. Guess it was time for everyone to go. You all packed your bags and headed out the door.

"It's not safe to go home alone." the toddler spoke up.

You looked around to see that while Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Sasagawa were going towards the left, you were the only one going to the right.

"Tsuna." he looked over to the boy. "You should take her home. It's the least you could do for helping you study."

You frowned. Just when you thought you could've gotten some peace and quiet.

"I could take her home." Yamamoto volunteered.

If you could look any more displeased with how this situation was playing out you were sure they still wouldn't realize how annoyed you were.

"No Tsuna can do it." responded Reborn "It would be troublesome for you to walk in the opposite direction of your house. You should get home and make sure you remember everything for the test tomorrow."

In that case wouldn't it make more sense to have Gokudera see you off? He was the only one of the boys who you were certain would pass. Sawada definitely was still not ready; he needed a lot more work.

"Sawada still needs to prep for the test too. I'm really fine going home alone. Bye!" You hurriedly walked away from the scene, firm in your thoughts of not wanting to spend any more time with them than necessary.

* * *

A week after the study session you were finally receiving your tests back. You gave a complacent smirk at the 100 on your paper. You knew you aced it.

"Juudaime how'd you do?" Your ears perked at the sound of Gokudera's voice. You snuck a glance and saw the deadly look on his face.

"That girl barely did anything!" he said with a click of his tongue, sliding the paper back to Sawada.

You raised your brows. You didn't do anything? Last time you checked this kid was getting 20s on his test. How could he possibly be doing any worse after you had tutored him? You shifted in your chair, struggling to peek over. You squinted getting a look at the number in the corner. That little…

Sawada had scored a 60 on his math test this time. A 60. It wasn't passing but it was three times as much as his usual grade and Gokudera had the nerve to say you barely did anything? You did a lot more than he did.

Yamamoto noticed you glaring towards them and smiled, holding up his paper. "Yo, class rep!"

You looked up at his paper and saw he scored in the high 80s. You got two hopelessly dumb students to score decently on a test. If that didn't show how amazing you were, you didn't know what would.

"We should study together again. Tsuna and I might not have to take remedial classes at this rate." he laughed.

Maybe you should've let them fail….

* * *

As you were walking home you could hear the annoying trio not too far away. Gokudera's shouting, Yamamoto's laughing, and Sawada's shrieking. Why was it that no matter how much you tried to avoid them you would just keep running into them? I guess it didn't help that you were all in the same class. Maybe if you wait until the year ends you'd be lucky enough to get placed in a different class.

"Ciaossu."

You looked down to see none other than the suit wearing toddler. It wasn't even a surprise how often you saw him. If it wasn't those three, it was him. Why couldn't people just leave you alone?

"If you're looking for those three, they're over there you know." You pointed towards them, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. As you walked you noticed him trailing behind you.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you." he replied.

"And what could you possibly want to talk to me about?" you raised a brow.

"Yamamoto and Tsuna showed a lot of improvement after that last study session. I want you to tutor the two of them."

You grimaced. Tutoring the very people you disliked, what a way to spend your days. "No offense, but I thought you were supposed to be Sawada's tutor. That was what you claimed yesterday after all. Is this how you skimp out on your supposed job?"

"I am his tutor. I'm teaching him how to be the tenth mafia boss of the Vongola. The less time he spends in remedial classes, the more time he can spend becoming a better Mafioso."

You had been joking with your earlier statement, but the toddler responded in a serious tone. You figured the mafia comment was his way of teasing you. The kid did have a smirk on his face when Yamamoto had you flustered. Besides kids always did have an overactive imagination.

"Sawada and the mafia. A mafia boss at that. Why pick him? He doesn't seem to be cut out for it."

You decided to play along. Why not let the kid have his fun?

"Why do you think he needs a tutor?"

"Well aren't you a snarky one." you muttered. "I'm gonna assume the same goes for Yamamoto?"

"That's right."

You stopped walking and turned around to face him. "Okay, say I do go along with this. What exactly is in it for me? I wouldn't say I enjoy their company."

He smirked. "Kobayashi Michiko, wouldn't you want to take this opportunity to get closer to Yamamoto?"

You almost choked. Did he hear you wrong? What part of don't enjoy their company wasn't self-explanatory? And how exactly did this baby know your name? As far as you could recall everyone just called you class rep.

"So what's your answer?" he prodded.

You blinked before frowning at him. "I don't want to spend any more time than necessary with either of them, so I'm gonna have to say no."

"Are you sure?" his smirk still ever so present. "The look on your face would prove otherwise."

Your lips slipped into a fine line as you glared down at the child. He was definitely referring to the red tint on your cheeks. It wasn't your fault Yamamoto, as annoying as he was, was also extremely attractive. He was just eye candy. Attractive people made you blush, it happens to everyone. It was definitely not a crush. No way in hell.

"If I am blushing it is not because I have a crush on Yamamoto. I am blushing because you're insinuating I could possibly feel romantically for him." you hissed out, emphasizing your words. "Besides you're a toddler how would you even know about these things? On top how do you know my name?"

"I have my ways. Anyways what if I said we'd pay you?"

Now he was talking. Money was always a game changer. If someone paid you, you'd find it hard to resist saying no to most things.

"Deal." you replied, the two of you shaking on it.

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _I just willingly accepted to make my life a living hell._

* * *

 **So "you" finally have an actual name lol. Anyways as for the slight Yamamoto shipping, he is attractive and I like his dynamic as a character. Tsuna still likes Kyoko and Yamamoto is attractive, so a simple crush isn't a big deal. The end game is still Tsuna X OC.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I started this chapter weeks ago, but didn't get a chance to finish until just now because of a hectic school schedule. There are more days off later in the month so hopefully I'll write more. I'm also planning on buying a laptop so maybe that'll help with updates? So sorry that it took forever though. Writer's block is a pain.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_ _I've been deceived._

The bright faced woman smiled, grabbing your hands into her own. "I'm so thankful my no good son has someone helping him with his studies."

You ignored the obvious jab at Sawada and tried your best to not look uncomfortable. You weren't very used to people being this friendly and energetic; it was an unwelcome change. That wasn't to say she wasn't a sweet woman. From the moment you stepped into the house you knew she put forth an effort to make you feel comfortable. However, you just weren't very good in social settings, so you held back an uncomfortable grimace and opted for a poker face.

"You know he really never does listen to anything Reborn-kun says to him. Maybe if he paid more attention he'd be doing better." she sighed, releasing your hands to place one on her cheek.

"Mom…" Sawada spoke up, signaling her to cut the conversation short. After Reborn explained that you would be his temporary tutor, he had looked just as uncomfortable as you were right now. You weren't sure whether this was because this was the first time you came over after he found out or if it was because his mom kept not so subtly degrading him. Either way you finally understood why he was always so negative. With everyone around him telling him he couldn't do anything it was no surprise he had no motivation.

 _Tricked, played, and cheated. How did Reborn expect me to take money from Sawada's mom after meeting her? She thought I was helping him from the good graciousness of my heart. She looked so grateful. The expectant look on her face, almost as if she was asking me a favor. This little kid must've set me up for it. He saw how I acted when Yamamoto asked me for something._

While you were lost in your thoughts Nana Sawada continued talking. "But you know Tsu-kun what happened to the other girl you were with? You're also very cute though, I'm surprised my son managed to date two adorable girls."

You blinked at her repeatedly before blankly staring at Sawada. "What."

Sawada immediately paled, shouting out in denial. "Mom, I'm not dating class rep. She's just here to tutor me."

You were thankful he quickly clarified because you were frozen. The comment left you speechless because the thought of you dating Sawada was just that ridiculous. Sawada had nothing you could possibly want in a potential partner, he was such a pushover. Weak willed, scrawny, dumb, unmotivated. He would never be able to keep up with you; it'd be such an unbalanced power dynamic. Thank god you would never have to worry about that though.

Nana blushed at her mistake. "Oh is that so. Well you two better head upstairs and start. I'll bring some snacks and drinks."

She rushed away while you two headed up to Sawada's room. You trailed slightly behind him trying to talk to Reborn. When Sawada was out of earshot you mumbled to Reborn.

"So did you introduce me to her in hopes that I would pity one of the two and not want to take money for helping out her 'no good son'?"

He smirked. "If that's the result of talking to her then let's go with that reasoning."

"You know as a classmate I really shouldn't be soliciting money for my services, but then I really don't have anything compelling me to stay any further."

"Well let's assume that didn't convince you, what about the compelling idea of Tsuna no longer being incompetent? Wasn't that the exact trait of his that made you so frustrated?"

You pursed your lips. This kid was cunning. He knew he already had guilt you into helping Sawada out, but going even further and persuading you that helping him would benefit you in some way was impressive.

 _He really is more cunning than his appearance lets on._

* * *

The three of you sat in Sawada's room. You two were in front of the desk, looking over at the textbook while Reborn stood to the side.

"The answer is th-three?" Sawada stuttered out, staring at his paper.

You sighed, taking the paper from his hand. "Nope. Let's review."

You leaned towards him and you could see him stiffen. His eyes began anxiously darting around the room. Why did he look so freaked out? This wasn't the first time you had noticed him looking unsettled around you. Maybe if he were blushing you could assume it was because he wasn't used to such close contact with a girl, but you saw how he reacted to Sasagawa's body near his. This was completely different.

You slightly moved away, raising an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a problem with me?"

"U-uh." he hesitated, looking as if he was trying to come up with a decent response.

"Ok then let's make this easier for you. I know that I haven't treated you particularly well so it probably isn't that strange if you dislike me, but why are you acting so weird?"

He scratched the back of his head, hesitant to look up. "Well you're a bit intimidating…"

His voice trailed off while looking at you uncertainly. You merely stared back, unamused. You two continued sitting in silence staring at each other until you saw Sawada gulp. You let out a small snort causing his eyes to widen.

"So you're saying you're scared of me?" you asked, holding back a laugh. You knew you weren't exactly friendly, but for someone to actually find you scary was ridiculous. Then again this was Sawada. You were pretty sure you had seen him hiding from the tiny Chihuahua one of the neighbors owned.

He didn't get a chance to respond as you quickly muttered out a 'good' leaving him with an uncomfortable grimace.

"Now then why don't we start looking at what you did in this problem?" you asked, putting the paper on the desk.

Halfway through your explanation you noticed Sawada was staring out of the window. Just as you were about to scold him he turned towards you and pointed out of the window. "Class rep there's a weird guy that looks like a cow!"

You clicked your tongue and glared. "What kind of nonsense..." you began, but stopped upon turning your head. There he was, a child in a cow suit on a tree holding a gun. You blinked several times and he was still there. You then rubbed your eyes, stared again, and saw no one. What exactly did you hallucinate?

You shared a confused glance with Sawada before deciding to move on. "So let's get back to that explanation then."

Just as you started your explanation once again, the door slammed open. The toddler you were sure you hallucinated had managed to come into the house and began to introduce himself. "Long time no see Reborn! It's me Lambo!"

Ah, so he was looking for Reborn. A child looking for another child made enough sense.

Reborn ignored Lambo and picked up the book from the table. "You two are so easily distracted. Tsuna let me show you how to do this. You have to remember this formula."

 _Not to mention most kids aren't like Reborn. Why does he know so much when he's supposed to only be 5? Are children just advancing too quickly? Something about Reborn is just disconcerting. He's strange in a way that's different from most children._

Reborn continued teaching Sawada while managing to avoid and retaliate all of Lambo's attack while still ignoring him. Somehow Sawada stayed focused on his work as well and got the correct answer. If Reborn could've taught him why did he get you? You glanced over at Lambo every few seconds watching Reborn become increasingly violent with him.

"Don't you think you should tone it down?" you asked, watching the five year old get thrown into the wall.

"I don't know what you're talking about." responded Reborn. "If you have time to talk, you have time to teach Tsuna."

"You know what I mean. It's one thing to ignore him and another to actually hit him. What if you're just making him dumber each time you bash his head into the wall?"

"I didn't see you as someone who liked children."

You rolled your eyes. "I'm antisocial not abusive. Besides he's been on the verge of tears five times in the past minute."

Reborn merely shrugged his shoulders as Lambo charged into him once again. However, this time he flew out the window. Your eyes widened and you stood up to try and pull him back inside, but he was too far out of reach. Shortly after, you saw an explosion. You ran downstairs to see Lambo sniffling next to Nana.

"It's a friend of Reborn-kun's. I found him outside crying. I think they may have gotten into a fight."

As if that hellish one-sided mess could even be considered a fight. You kneeled down and patted the child's head. "We should get some tissues to wipe his face."

"There are some in the kitchen. I'll be right back."

You continued patting Lambo's head as he stared at the floor, sniffling. The poor kid was only five, how could Reborn treat him so badly? But then again Reborn was also five, so why was he so violent? Lambo was obnoxiously loud, but still.

As Nana returned with tissues in her hand, you helped wipe Lambo's face, instructing him to blow into the tissue. Sawada came down as well, noticing Lambo clinging onto your leg.

"I think Reborn-kun may have gotten into a fight with him. You two are older, so it'd be nice if you could help them settle it out." Nana smiled brightly at you.

You looked over at Sawada who was already protesting and sighed. It's not as if Lambo was letting go of your leg anytime soon, so you couldn't exactly go home. Besides you felt kind of bad for the kid.

"We'd be glad to help." you loudly interrupted him. Sawada turned towards you with a shocked look. You looked back at him and simply shrugged your shoulders. It couldn't possibly be that bad.

* * *

It was horrible. You could feel Lambo's snot and tears seeping into you shirt. You tried to discreetly nudge him away, but this only caused him to cling tighter.

Even after the three of you had left the house his crying hadn't stopped. Fortunately you convinced him to let go of your leg, so you didn't have to walk with an awkward drag. However, the price for that was your shirt. Not to mention Sawada did nothing to help, not as if you had expected him to have done so regardless.

"Instead of staring at my chest, could you help with getting him to calm down?" you snidely questioned, causing him to turn red.

"I-I wasn't staring! Not in that way at least…" he nervously stumbled over his sentence.

You snorted. "Yeah I know. It's not as if I'm Sasagawa."

"Wait how did you know about that?" he exclaimed.

"Anyone with eyes can see it Sawada." you rolled your eyes. "You look like you're about to drop dead with happiness whenever she's in the same radius as you. The only one who doesn't see it is probably Sasagawa herself."

"Yeah, you're right." he scratched the back of his head awkwardly laughing.

"Besides she's the school idol. Most of the boys have a crush on her. You even confessed to her and had a duel with Mochida- senpai over her. Although I guess she did blow it off as a joke in the end."

He brought his head onto his knees and somberly smiled. "I guess I must seem pathetic, liking someone who's too good for me."

You frowned at his self-degradation. You wanted to tell him off, but it didn't seem appropriate at the moment. He was already down, why kick him lower?

"Yeah you are pathetic Sawada, but not because of how you feel about Sasagawa. You're pathetic because you're so quick to give up. If you actually want a chance at dating her then stop putting yourself down and get yourself together. If you're so certain she won't be interested in you as you are now then why don't you put some effort into becoming a better you?"

You two stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds before you had fully processed that you had given love advice to Sawada. Well this was awkward…

"I mean I've never had a crush on anyone so don't take my advice to heart if you don't want to. I just think it's better to do something than it is to just mope around and think 'what if''. Besides Sasagawa is dense so she won't know anything unless you confess. And if you don't stop talking yourself down you probably never will."

At this point you were just rambling. If Sawada didn't say something soon, you'd have to get up and leave. You didn't mean to have a heart to heart conversation with him. You just wanted to get Lambo off of your shirt which by the way he was still clinging on to.

"Thanks class rep." he smiled towards you. "Most people would have just told me that it would be better to give up. That I'm no good Tsuna and I'll never be able to get to someone like Kyoko-chan."

Was this boy really still degrading himself after you gave him a semi-inspiring speech? You raised a brow at him, ready to shoot out a snarky comment.

"Honestly I expected you to do the same, but you didn't. It came off as a bit of a shock so I wasn't sure what to say at the moment. Thank you though."

He continued smiling up at you and you could feel yourself getting embarrassed. "Well I'm not a complete demon. Also, even if you're pathetic now, there's room for improvement. You're only bothersome when you have no will to improve."

He smiled again, this time staring at the sky. "It's getting darker, so it must be time for dinner." he fished through his pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. "Hey Lambo, you like candy right? If you let go of her I'll give you this candy."

Lambo's ears perked up and he unburied his head from your chest. You breathed a sigh of relief as he jumped into Sawada's arms.

"You couldn't have done that sooner?" you gestured to your soggy shirt.

"Sorry about that." he sheepishly smiled. "You could come back to my house and borrow something to wear back home. My mom would probably want you to stay over for dinner as thanks for the tutoring session."

"It's fine. My house isn't that far away and I told my mom I'd be home by dinner anyway."

"Ah all right. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah I guess so,"

You turned your back and started to walk away. A few steps later you stopped. "I am definitely going to regret this." you muttered.

You turned around and called out to him. "Sawada! If you have the ambition to change yourself then I'll help you out."

He flashed you another smile and waved. "Thanks class rep."

* * *

 _One way or another I'm now somehow involved in Sawada's love life. It should be no big deal since getting closer to Sawada will just be a small part of the bigger picture. Besides he's not as bad as I originally thought. The main problem seems to be his surroundings. As long as he's willing to change this shouldn't be that painful._

* * *

 **Honestly I did not expect this chapter to end out this way. The original plan was to have them bond by getting Lambo to stop crying, but somewhere along the way he was forgotten and it turned into a whole other thing. Thought I'd clarify the reason I gave the character their own name is because I find it hard to deal with the whole (Y/N) thing. I'd rather the character just has her own name even though it's not relevant as of now bc everyone just calls her class rep. I hope it's not a giant distraction. I wanted to possibly have her name become a thing later because they can't just call her class rep for life lol. It does kind of clash with 2nd person since it's a self insert, but I hope it's not completely intolerable?**

 **Anyways,** **I do enjoy reading everyone's reviews as well, so please do keep them coming. Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello hello everyone! I've been suffering with midterms for the past month and had half a chapter typed this whole time. I'm trying to update at least once a month, hopefully more with a month of break.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR.**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Life has been painful. The hook up Sawada plan has been a work in progress. I laid out several different events as possible attempts, but somehow they don't play out as planned. For instance, let's look at a recent attempt, giving rice balls to the boys in our class._

"We'll give the rice balls we made in home economics class to you boys!" the crowd of girls chorused, with plates of rice balls in their hands.

You stared at your own rice balls with a look of dissatisfaction. They looked shabbily made compared to the others'. You were used to your creations looking a little less than extraordinary, but your inner perfectionist was unsettled. Regardless, your rice balls weren't important at the moment. Sasagawa's were. More importantly getting Sawada to ask for Sasagawa's was the goal. Any interaction between the two would benefit their relationship at this point.

With your rice balls in your hands, you navigated through the crowd towards Sawada, Gokudera, and Yamamoto.

"Hey class rep!" Yamamoto cheerily greeted. "Are those your rice balls?"

You frowned, trying to place them out of sight. Your pride couldn't bear to let them see your biggest flaw. Yamamoto, however, moved too quickly and snatched one off the plate.

"Um, the shape is interesting?" he hesitantly spoke, examining the food.

You glared up at him, while Sawada and Gokudera grabbed the other two rice balls off the plate.

"Why's it shaped like crap?" Gokudera scoffed, biting into it.

"Well who told you to eat it?" you hissed out through gritted teeth.

"The taste is pretty good though." Yamamoto commented.

These boys were distracting you from your goal. You turned towards Sawada who looked rather pale as Sasagawa approached the group.

"Tsuna-kun, do you want to eat them?" Sasagawa asked, extending her plate.

Looks like you weren't needed here. Sasagawa took the initiative herself. Lucky Sawada can just accept, throw her a compliment, and that's already some easy brownie points.

"Eh?!" he shrieked out.

Why was he hesitating? You nudged him with your elbow, gesturing to take the rice ball. He can't be getting nervous now, everything is already done. You narrowed your eyes at him and he decided to reach out to grab one. Upon closer inspection of the rice balls, your eyes widened.

 _Sasagawa is supposed to be good at cooking, so why were her rice balls uglier than mine? First off I swear I just saw that rice ball move. And not to mention they looked purple….They looked normal in the kitchen, so why would they spoil suddenly? Everyone else's rice balls didn't look anything like that. Unless the food was switched out it doesn't add up._

"Sawada, are you sure you want to eat that?" you whispered in his ear, suspiciously eyeing the food.

"I can't just say no can I?" he whispered back.

Sasagawa tilted her head, slightly confused. "Do you not like salmon?" she pouted.

That look was a deadly weapon. He couldn't reject her now. If he ate that though you knew Sawada was definitely going to get a bad case of food poisoning. You thought of accidentally tilting the plate and having it fall. Then the blame would be on you and it wouldn't interfere with the plan. Besides you already had a reputation for being unfriendly, no one would think much of it.

While you and Sawada exchanged unsettled glances, Yamamoto and Gokudera appeared from behind, grabbing the rice balls.

"We can take one right?" Yamamoto asked.

You threw a glare at them. These gluttons. They already ate your rice balls, why are they scavenging for more? Besides they commented on your rice balls' shape, but you didn't hear any complaints about the purple fuming death balls in their hands.

You leaned over, pretending to fall while aiming to push the rice ball out of Yamamoto's hands. After Gokudera had insulted your rice ball you had no intention of saving him from food poisoning.

Just as the rice ball was at your fingertips, Yamamoto lifted it higher out of reach and used his free hand to steady you.

"Are you okay class rep?" he leaned down with concern as he held the underside of your arm. "If you're not feeling well, you should go to the infirmary."

"No I'm okay." you hastily spat out, trying to back away from his face. You could feel your face burning up.

"Maybe you should eat something? Here." he said, extending the rice ball.

You jerked your arm out of his grip and backed away. "No thanks. I'm fine."

"Ok?" he said confusedly, lifting the rice ball to his mouth.

You stared at him with an uncomfortable expression, before speaking up. "You probably shouldn't eat-"

"If you eat that you'll die!" Sawada interrupted you, slapping the rice balls out of both Gokudera's and Yamamoto's hands.

You then watched as Sawada somehow lost all of his clothes except for his boxers and devoured not only Sasagawa's rice balls, but the entire class'.

 _In the end everyone saw Sawada's madness as a love declaration. "I'll kill anyone who eats the rice balls Kyoko-chan made for me." How laughable, considering Sasagawa still looked as clueless as ever. I suppose it worked out in the end, but the future was looking bleak. I didn't think he was this hopeless._

* * *

 _And then it was summer break…._

"This is hopeless." you sighed, fanning yourself with a book. Your hair was pulled into a messy bun while you leaned back using your arm to support your weight

"Um, class rep?" Sawada cleared his throat. "I kind of need that to finish my homework." he said, pointing towards the notebook.

You clicked your tongue. "If you had any notes in here do you think you'd be attending summer classes?"

"Uh, right." he replied, scratching the back of his head nervously.

You let out another sigh as your precious summer was wasted away tutoring none other than Sawada and Yamamoto. To think you actually thought you'd get a break from the group for a short time. Not to mention without any free time the hook up plan was on pause. What a massive pain.

"Don't talk to the Tenth like that!" Gokudera shouted, looking up from the textbook.

You rolled your eyes. "It's too hot for me to care about Sawada's feelings. Are you two almost done with the homework?"

"Yup!" Yamamoto cheerily replied. "But I wasn't able to figure what question 7 was."

Gokudera laughed mockingly at Yamamoto. However, he quickly quieted down realizing he too didn't know how to solve the problem. Everyone turned their heads towards you and you reciprocated with a glare.

"Fine, hand me the sheet." you extended your hand out reluctantly. Gokudera passed it over and you glared down. You were already drenched in sweat and feeling dizzy, solving math problems in this heat would only frustrate you more.

"What is this problem?" your face showing obvious disgust. You were already ahead in the curriculum and this made no sense to you, how were they gonna give this to kids who couldn't even pass class?

"Wow so even class rep can't solve this."

Your eye twitched upon hearing Yamamoto's remark. "Excuse me? Did you just say I can't solve this? Of course I can solve it!"

"I think you should calm down." Sawada spoke up.

"I think you should shut up and let me do this problem!" you leaned over the table, shouting back.

 _So hours had passed and we got several people to look over the problem. In the end Reborn ended up solving it. Apparently he was either just sleep talking and happened to be correct or he actually is a renowned math professor. Regardless it's still suspicious. And that was how I spent my summer vacation, annoyed and overheating. Not to mention when we got back to school he just wouldn't let me live it down._

* * *

"Morning class rep!" Yamamoto greeted. "It's not too hot today is it?"

"No, it's not." you responded in your usual monotone.

"That's good, wouldn't want to get on your bad side this early in the morning."

"Yet here we are." you muttered, prompting him to laugh.

 _For some strange reason no matter how rude I was to Yamamoto he still didn't understand that my annoyed remarks signified irritation. Was he dense or did he have some masochistic side to him? Or maybe he knew he was causing me pain and was a sadist? Maybe he even thought we were friends? All so equally probable. Then there was of course Sawada._

You both walked through the school gate, noticing Sawada and Sasagawa standing to the side. You raised a brow realizing Sawada was once again in his underwear, something that was now oddly commonplace, but was also standing with an unrecognizable boy.

The boy shouted "extreme" and ran off, Sasagawa quickly following behind him. You grimaced at his yell and strolled over to Sawada.

"You know if indecent exposure is your idea of impressing Sasagawa I recommend you tone up because your frail build isn't doing you any favors."

Unusually Sawada didn't have a reaction this time. His face was pale and his expression filled with anguish. You waved a hand in front of his face, but still no response. Throwing a confused look at Yamamoto, you tilted your head gesturing for him to make an attempt

"Tsuna?" Yamamoto questioned, while you snapped your fingers in front of Sawada's eyes.

He blinked, finally coming out of his daze, but still wearing a look of panic.

"I don't know what's up Sawada, but if you don't hurry and get your clothes back on we're gonna be late for the opening ceremony."

"Right." he responded, hurriedly putting his clothes back on.

* * *

 _He looked unsettled since the morning so I finally decided to approach him._

"Sawada let's talk." you stood in front of his desk while he stared back with wide eyes. The class quieted down, watching the whole spectacle.

"Um sure?" he unsurely responded.

"In private." you nodded towards the door, indicating he should follow you.

You could hear the class now whispering, most likely gossiping about your motives. It was no secret that you avoided everyone like the plague, so they could see no explanation behind you approaching Sawada.

 _I'm not sure whether it was because I was talking to Sawada specifically or if it was the fact I finally decided to socialize, but everyone seemed to be whispering about it. They probably wouldn't have even been surprised if only one of us came back through that door (obviously me). Regardless, I had promised Sawada I would help him change when the time came, so here I was._

"So what's up?" you asked.

He blankly stared at you, unresponsive.

"Okay let's make this easier, why have you looked like you're gonna wet yourself all day? You know I agreed to help you change and this is a step in the opposite direction."

"This morning Kyoko-chan's brother challenged me to a boxing match after school." he blurted out.

You furrowed your brows. That would explain who the boy from this morning was, but a boxing match? "And why exactly did he do that? I mean sure you did beat Mochida-senpai that one time, but otherwise you don't draw much attention."

"U-uh well yeah I think that was it. He said Kyoko-chan mentioned me too." A light blush spreading across his cheeks as he spoke.

You tried to refrain from rolling your eyes. He was worried just a second ago, what was this transition to a lovesick little schoolboy? "Yeah of course the silver lining of the situation. Anyways what exactly is the problem with saying no to the match then? Just go up to him and refuse."

"You're right class rep, I'll refuse after school."

 _A motivational speech here and some logic there, there was no refusing my course of action. Sawada's refusal would be the first step in the plan for change._

* * *

You watched with a blank face as Sawada ran around the ring, screaming and dodging hits. Well so much for refusing him. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Sasagawa smiling and cheering him on causing your mouth turn slightly upward.

 _One step forward and two steps back. Looks like we're still gonna have to keep trying._

* * *

 **I am so sorry if this chapter sucked, but I really wanted to have some development because honestly the character cannot go from "I hate Sawada" to "I don't mind being around him" without background. I may just be too self critical about how this development is happening, but do let me know if there is any awkwardness. Thanks for reading! And also thank you for all of you who have reviewed, it makes me seriously happy getting that review notification ^^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! Sorry about no chapter last month. I've been trying to stick to once a month updates, but with final papers and exams December is just too hectic of a month. I'm going to attempt to post another chapter soon though. We will see lol**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _All I wanted was a peaceful afternoon. Yet somehow I ended up having to bandage up the idiot trio. It's as if they purposely go out of their way to make things harder for me._

"We'll use the reception room of the school." announced Reborn.

"That's a terrible idea." you responded, leaning against the fence not looking up from your book.

"The reception room is almost never used. The furniture and the view are good and the geographical location is excellent." continued Reborn, paying no attention to your complaints.

"You can't just take rooms from the school as you please." you said, rolling your eyes. "You have to have administrative permission."

"Then you can get it for us." he countered. "As a student with high scores and a reputation as class representative you'll have no trouble with this."

You furrowed your brows, finally putting your book aside. "I don't recall involving myself in this nonsense."

"Once you commented you were already getting yourself into our business."

"It can't be helped when I was the one sitting here first and then you all just happened to stumble onto the roof."

 _It's uncanny how often I run into them even when I'm trying to avoid them. Sure the roof is a pretty popular lunch spot, but it was the middle of fall. Most people preferred the indoors when it was this breezy outside._

"Let's get going then." said Reborn, leading the way.

* * *

Yamamoto slid open the reception room door, admiring the interior. You bumped into his back when he had unexpectedly halted in his tracks.

 _Yes, I had followed them. Why? Because I knew that somehow something would go wrong and of course I would be dragged along into it anyway. At least if I joined them there would be backstory behind the bullshit._

You clicked your tongue and rubbed your nose. "Yama-"

He glanced back at you and lifted a finger up, signaling for you to be quiet. You threw him a confused look, but heard another voice beginning to speak. Of course the room was already taken. You tried to get a glance of the figure in the room, but with Yamamoto completely blocking your view there was no way to do so. However, thanks to Gokudera's temper, the boy stormed into the room screaming, leaving a vacant spot for you to catch a glimpse.

You eyed the black haired boy with curiosity. He looked unamused with the group's arrival and even further annoyed by Gokudera's attitude. With a swift swing of his arm, he removed Gokudera's cigarette from his mouth.

You raised your brows at the sudden action, extremely confused by this boy. Turning towards Yamamoto you noticed the fear in his eye. You nudged him with your elbow to get his attention. "Why're you impersonating Sawada?"

Instead of responding he pushed you behind him and out of the room. So much for a backstory. While you were pushed out, Sawada decided to happily wander inside, completely disregarding the situation. In under a minute you witnessed the three boys get violently beaten.

What were you supposed to do now? What are the chances that this sicko wouldn't beat up a female? Unfortunately psychopaths didn't seem to discriminate. Maybe it would be best to call an ambulance?

"I'll call an ambulance for them."

You breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn't that sick. In the following seconds you watched as he once again hit Sawada on the chin.

"Well, I have to beat up the other two so they can get on the ambulance too."

Your mouth gaped open at the absurdity of the situation. Nope, he was definitely sick. As much as you wanted to abandon the trio you knew the guilt would get to you, so you apprehensively walked into the room.

"Hm another one?"

The frown on your face lengthened turning into a painful grimace. "I'm just here to drag them out."

His smirk grew, obviously amused. You didn't even try to hide your discomfort as you neared Gokudera and Yamamoto's bodies.

"I'm not done yet!" you heard Sawada, who was clad only in boxers, scream while punching the boy square in the face.

Taking Sawada's sudden attack as an opportunity you tried to wake up Gokudera and Yamamoto. There was no way you'd be able to drag two boys who towered over you into safety regardless of the circumstances.

"Wake up you idiots!" you hastily whispered, harshly slapping both of them on the shoulder. If these idiots didn't wake up now you would be the one sending them to the hospital. Suddenly, a gust of smoke filled the room and you found Sawada dragging the two out of the reception room. You quickly followed behind.

Once a decent distance away you left the trio and headed towards the nurse's office. They would definitely need antiseptic and bandages with the injuries they had received. You rummaged through the drawers, pulling out all the necessary items.

* * *

Sawada seethed, recoiling as you pressed the antiseptic dipped cotton ball against his cheek.

"Stay still." you hissed out, using you free hand to cup his other cheek and forcibly push him closer to you.

You had already taken care of the other two boys rather begrudgingly. Gokudera continuously grumbled throughout your treatment, occasionally screaming out a profanity whereas Yamamoto smiled, mildly cringing when the antiseptic burned. The only one left was Sawada and he, for the life of him, wouldn't stop flinching.

"It's all your faults for partaking in such a ridiculous plan to begin with. Now stop squirming unless you want an infection." you lectured him, tightening your harsh grip on his chin.

"Class rep, ease up a little. He did hit me there." Sawada jerked his face out of your hand.

You glared at him and pushed his shoulder causing him to fall backwards. Still gripping his shoulder, you placed your knee on his chest, pressing your body weight onto him. With your free hand you pushed the cotton ball down towards him.

"AHHH!"

 _All I gained from today was another person on the list of people to avoid. On that note, here's my new motto; don't follow along for the backstory because you'll end up having to clean everything up yourself. The timeless classic curiosity killed the cat. These idiots are on their own._

* * *

 _Why do people leave idiots unattended to?_

You sat in the far back corner of the room as the shouts of male students bombarded your ears. It was time for the Namimori Junior High Athletic Festival and every year -for some godforsaken reason- the enthusiasm rises to exponential levels. They had split the school into three teams and with your luck the leader of your team happened to be the older Sasagawa. As if this boy needed a reason to scream. You had sat so far in the back hoping his voice wouldn't reach you, but to no avail.

With a sigh, you placed your book on the desk and pushed your glasses up to your forehead. You inhaled deeply, covering your eyes with the palms of your hands, slowly moving your fingers toward the sides of your head. You closed your eyes releasing a long breath and pressing down on your temples. Your ears perked as the chair next to you slid across the tiled floor, signaling that someone had taken a seat to your right.

"Hey class rep!" greeted a disgustingly cheerful voice you immediately recognized.

You hurriedly put your arms onto the desk and buried your face into them. Of all the times to deal with the trio why now?

 _I had been masterfully avoiding them for the past week so why did they have to appear when I was in even less of a tolerant mood than usual? Did I commit some kind of cruel act in a past life or does some other being just enjoy seeing me suffer?_

"Are you okay?" asked Yamamoto in that ever concerned tone of voice you had heard much too often by now.

 _Yamamoto Takeshi only has two tones with me, concerned or happy. The latter is a default. The former? God knows seeing as if he were truly concerned he would have identified himself as the problem._

You weakly put up a hand to him, hoping the message of please stop would successfully transfer over. He didn't respond so you assumed it did. Once again Sasagawa's shouts filled the room and you let out a loud groan doubtful anyone would hear it over his voice.

"That boxing freak is so annoying. Can't he speak with a normal tone?" mumbled Gokudera.

You mentally agreed, scoffing at Sawada's mild scolding towards Gokudera. His beloved "Kyoko-chan" hearing this wouldn't make a difference. She should know how annoying her brother is by now.

The older Sasagawa's voice continued to boom through the room, eventually passing on the leadership to Sawada. Now you had to raise your head for this. A majority vote for Sawada? How could he possibly…?

Your train of thought trailed off as the older boy and Gokudera threatened the others to agree. You peered towards Sawada who was frozen in fear. He caught your eye and passed you a hesitant look of worry. You turned your back to him.

 _Sucks for Sawada, but not my problem. Or so I thought._

* * *

"Why am I at the riverside?"

You crossed your arms, attempting to shield yourself from the harsh wind. Of course it was unsuccessful. Your hair was shoved into your face, blocking your view and you could feel goosebumps developing on your arms.

"So remind me again why I am here?" you spoke through gritted teeth, completely stone faced.

"Come on class rep, it's not that bad." Yamamoto gleefully smiled back.

You stared back debating on who of the four you should murder first. Sawada, who always got involved in nonsense, Yamamoto who was always too happy about nonsense, Gokudera who complained but still went along with the nonsense, or Sasagawa senpai who forced Sawada into this particular nonsense. Oh the choices.

"You're Tsuna's tutor too, you should be here." said Reborn.

"I'm his academic tutor not his fitness instructor. Besides aren't you also his "tutor"." you asked, eying Reborn suspiciously.

For some odd reason he was wearing a boxing costume and using the alias Master PaoPao. Although strange, playing pretend wasn't something out of the ordinary for children but you were still skeptical. You decided to not pry further seeing as the more time wasted the longer you would be forced to stay.

"You haven't come to tutor Tsuna recently. Consider this as making up for those days."

You rolled your eyes, but refrained from making a comment.

 _Sawada managed to climb the pole, only to fall into the river because Gokudera and Sasagawa senpai were arguing. Lucky him, he might just get out of this situation. While they went on with this stupidity I managed to sneak away. At least the athletic festival is over tomorrow._

* * *

The following morning you woke up and headed to school. You stopped by the nurse's office to pick up a first aid kit. Unfortunately as the class rep you became the default health monitor for the festival. Who else but the reliable class representative the students unanimously agreed causing you to roll your eyes in remembrance of the event.

"Women are always welcome though." you heard an older man respond as you opened the door. His eyes stopped on you and he gave you a wink. "How about a kiss?" he questioned.

You entered the room with a grimace. You looked around in disgust, noting Sawada was also in the room. "What is this Nezu-sensei part two?" you mumbled to him.

You walked towards the cart and grabbed the kit, hastily exiting with Sawada trailing behind you. As usual he was distraught and panicked.

"Why are you always like this?" you sighed. "If you don't want to do it just say so. Asserting yourself is better than letting other people down."

"I kind of told Kyoko I'd do it yesterday though…"

Before you could speak up Sasagawa appeared seeking Sawada. She eagerly handed him a headband with his name sewed into it. She smiled at him, wishing him luck and joyfully walked away. Sawada, on the other hand, was completely dispirited.

"Wow I guess one step forward two steps back really is accurate of your potential romance. Being leader probably won't hurt too badly."

* * *

"Being leader won't hurt too badly." Sawada sarcastically laughed, mocking your earlier statement as you bandaged his arm.

"Don't test me Sawada." you warned. "No one expected everything to turn into a free for all brawl."

"I guess not." he responded.

"I'm done." you replied, wrapping up the gauze.

"Thanks."

You handed him a water bottle and proceeded to dig through the first aid kit. He stared confusedly as you handed him two pills.

"One is a fever reducer, the other is a painkiller. Your muscles are probably sore after today and you felt a little warm while I was bandaging you. Figured it was a fever since you fell into the river yesterday."

"Oh thanks." he shyly smiled at you.

"If you're really that grateful try avoiding trouble. I'm supposed to be helping you out with your love life not nursing you back to health."

"Why not do both?" questioned Reborn from below.

"My services are limited. I'm already his academic tutor and love coach for free, personal nurse will be extra."

"Once Tsuna becomes a mafia boss he'll have the money to pay you back."

"Reborn!" shouted out Sawada, anxiously staring back and forth between you two. "Ignore him class rep, you know how children are. They like to make up their own games."

"It's not a game." responded Reborn.

Reborn had previously mentioned the mafia to you before and you had decided to humor him by playing along. You figured why not do the same now since the child was at least consistent with his bluffs.

"Well how can I make sure Sawada won't go back on these payments?"

"Easy. Join our family."

"Deal. Sawada you're going to be in mountains of debt at this rate." you smirked at the boy before packing up the first aid kit and taking your leave.

"Wait class rep!" he shouted. It was too late though as you were already out of earshot.

Sawada groaned. Frustrated he pushed his face into his hands. "Reborn what were you thinking? Class rep too, she's the type to reject these kinds of proposals."

 _If I was gonna get forcibly involved in all of this regardless I might as well get to have some fun with it. Besides just because Reborn was joking about the mafia doesn't mean I wasn't joking about that debt. They should at the very least pay me for all the suffering I have to endure._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! I am a bit apprehensive about this chapter tbh. It feels as if the quality drops every chapter, so any form of critique is welcome.**


	8. Chapter 8

Okay wow so I have not updated in forever mostly bc of school related matters, but here it is. I'm really grateful for all the reviews I have gotten since my last update, they really brighten up my day! Anyways enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KHR

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _They sure did put a lot of thought into this fake mafia thing._

"What is this?" screamed Sawada at the sight of several men clad in black suits standing outside his house.

"You have a lot of interesting guests over Sawada. I didn't think you even knew this many people."

"I don't….."

You raised an eyebrow followed by an eye roll. Being snarky wasn't as fulfilling when he agreed with your comments.

"Um...excuse me." he approached one of the men. "Can I pass through?"

"You can't. I can only let Sawada family members through right now…." responded the man, extending his palm outward.

"Wow Sawada how're they not gonna let you into your own house." you scoffed.

"What? This is him!" the men's eyes widened and immediately parted to make room for you two.

You both walked inside, Sawada rushing up the stairs shouting at Reborn for an explanation. Upon entering you noticed two more men in suits as well as Reborn sitting on the table.

"We've been waiting for you Tsuna." he said.

"Yo Vongola boss." a figure seated facing away from you two spoke. "I travelled from afar to pay you a visit. I'm Cavallone Family's 10th boss, Dino." As the man introduced himself the chair turned revealing a blonde haired foreigner smiling amicably.

 _With all those guys in suits you would've thought their "boss" would dress more professionally. And for a "mafia boss" he didn't look threatening or inconspicuous. Maybe their original guy couldn't pull through, so they got the closest foreigner they could find?_

His eyes raked over Sawada's features in amusement, bursting out in laughter before taking the opportunity to berate him. Sawada looked over towards you in embarrassment and disbelief. He had just met the guy and he was already taking a jab at him.

You furrowed your brows and cleared your throat. "Excuse me, but who exactly are you to be making judgments on someone?"

You glared down at the older man, head cocked and arms crossed. You had no idea who this man was and at this point you didn't care. He looked a good amount older than you, so you couldn't wrap your mind around why he felt the need to badmouth Sawada. Even if what he said was true, it was uncalled for.

 _This whole situation was reminiscent of Nezu sensei along with the other adults who did the same. It was one thing for children to act so immaturely, but shouldn't adults know better?_

Dino smiled once again, bursting into a heavier fit of laughter with his henchmen following in suit. You kept your position, impatiently tapping your foot. "Care to explain what's so funny?"

He caught his breath, stifling back a chuckle. "Vongola, if you've got nothing else, you at least have a good eye for women. It's cute watching your girlfriend defend you."

Your stared at Dino with wide eyes, sputtering out a cough. "Girlfriend? God no! We're not…"

Your voice wavered as you struggled to finish your sentence opting for a disgruntled expression instead.

 _Why did everyone automatically assume being a good person meant I had to be dating Sawada? If he was really as much of a loser as they think he is what makes them think he'd have a girlfriend?_

"She's his classmate." interrupted Reborn. "And a recent addition to his family."

"Ah!" he nodded at you knowingly, as if that had clarified everything. He then turned his attention back to Sawada, explaining the reason for his visitation.

 _So this "boss" Dino was apparently a former student of Reborn's. Judging from his looks he's in his early 20s yet Reborn had "tutored" him during his adolescent years. Interesting story seeing as Reborn himself is 4 and if he had tutored Dino he would've been a barely functioning fetus, but ok let us just ignore the laws of the actual world. Dino decided to visit Sawada in order to meet his "younger brother". Before Reborn had come in Dino was also a loser, so he can relate to the struggles. As unsurprised as I am, this is still oddly suspicious. I don't think they would go this far to prove they're part of the "mafia", but it all feels too strange. It's all just so unrealistic that getting to the root of it is even harder. And so I ended up at dinner with them for further observation._

* * *

You silently watched Dino from the corner of your eye, carefully calculating his every move. All you could see at this point was that he was completely harmless judging from the piles of rice that were strewn across the table. You mentally scoffed. The man didn't even have enough coordination to properly use chopsticks.

 _This just in he's not a threat of any sort, but of course. How much more obvious could he get?_

Lifting yourself from your seat, you headed to the counter for paper towels to clean up Dino's mess. Sawada's mother already had enough to deal with so you might as well help her out. Using the tissues to gather up the rice, you threw a pointed look at Dino.

"How does a grown man not know how to use chopsticks properly?"

"It's just because I usually use forks and knives so I can't use chopsticks very well."

As you readied a response, Nana let out a scream from the bathroom. Sawada and Dino jumped out of their seats to rush over, only for Dino to trip.

 _The only concern I should have surrounding him is of my own safety. Basically Sawada 2.0. Or maybe Sawada was Dino 2.0 seeing as the latter is the senior here._

You rolled your eyes, stepping over him and heading to the source of the commotion. Upon arrival you blinked in disbelief, shortly followed by Sawada's shrieking.

 _Somehow the little turtle the useless blondie was carrying grew several times in size. It was a turtle not a sponge, how does this kind of stuff even happen?_

"Enzio is a sponge snapping turtle." Informed Reborn.

"In what world is that an actual animal?" you sarcastically muttered.

While searching for a solution, the turtle suddenly roared, taking a large bite out of the tub. In an attempt to stop it, Dino pulled out his whip, instead managing to hit everything but Enzio. To everyone's relief, he eventually managed to contain the beast.

 _Another day in the Sawada household has confirmed that everyone associated with Sawada gets into a mess. He is a harbinger of disaster._

* * *

Worn out from the whole scenario, you finally decided to take your leave. As you bid farewell to everyone, Dino spoke up.

"It's getting late, someone should walk you home."

 _Every freaking time I swear_

"Please don't."

 _Does it look like I have a death wish? How insane would I have to be to agree to have one of these two disasters walk me home?_

"I'll walk you to the gate then!" he smiled, pushing you both out the door before you could deny him.

You leered at him suspiciously. Why was he being so aggressive in getting you alone?

Once he had shut the door behind you two, you whipped around to face him. "What exactly are you getting at here?"

He smiled down at you, letting out a chuckle. "It doesn't take a genius to notice you've been apprehensive of me from the start."

"Glad to know you agree you're not a genius."

He awkwardly laughed at the comment, before continuing. "I just wanted to know if you were interested in traveling."

You eyed him suspiciously, unsure what he was getting at. Did he mean this as a threat or as a genuine question?

"You're still suspicious of me I see, but don't take this the wrong way. I was just wondering if you would be interested in a job offer abroad. Reborn told me a bit about you. Ambitious, cunning, the type of girl who steps on others to get what she wants."

You furrowed your brows at his description. "If you think those are good traits in a person, I really am inclined to repeat that you most definitely are not a genius."

"Sharp tongued. Another good quality to have if you decide to agree to the offer I'm putting on the table here."

"Are you a pedophile?"

His eyes widened at the accusation as he blustered out an answer. "What? No of course not!"

"Really because you're accosting an underage person to go out of the country for unknown reasons. The whole plan reeks of human trafficking."

Your eyes widened and it all clicked as the words fell from your mouth. Dino was part of the "mafia", but what if that was a cover for human trafficking? Reborn was part of this whole plan too, that's why he treated Sawada like crap. They were keeping an eye on him so that eventually they could just snatch him away. Sawada was the perfect prey, a pushover who was mostly unknown. He didn't even have any friends until recently. This whole family Reborn was forming too, it could just be him gathering others to be potentially shipped off.

"You're sick." you hissed out, pushing past Dino and back into the Sawada residence. "Sawada I've decided I'm staying the night."

"What?" Sawada exclaimed.

* * *

From afar Reborn witnessed the whole conversation between you and Dino.

"Reborn, I think she misunderstood the situation…"

"As she stated earlier you're definitely not genius." he responded.

"She thinks I'm a pedophile and a human trafficker…."

"She still rushed back into the house though, so didn't she pass the test? You wanted to see how loyal she really was given her personality."

Dino sighed. "I just wanted to make sure Tsuna was surrounded by trustworthy people. From what you said all her actions have had ulterior motives and she only looks out for herself."

"If she had accepted your offer what would you have done?"

"I knew she wasn't going to accept, but I didn't expect her to go back inside. I thought she would've run off on her own instead. I guess she does care about Tsuna after all, but what am I gonna do about this misunderstanding?" he groaned.

Reborn smirked. "If you brought it upon yourself why not just play along?"

"Reborn…"

* * *

 _Looks like I was majorly wrong about Dino._

You scribbled into your diary furiously, logging in the encounter. Sawada nervously eyed you from his bed.

"You're writing really quickly class rep…" he commented.

"Just scribbling some notes." you muttered.

"Wow, you study this late at night too." he spoke in awe.

"Something like that."

The room was once again awkwardly silent aside from the noise of your pencil scratching against paper.

"So are you planning on sleeping in my room tonight?" asked Sawada.

"Dino is isn't he?" you questioned.

"Well it's just that you're a girl…"

"Do you really think I have anything to worry about with you here Sawada? You like Sasagawa don't you? Unless you're implying Dino might try something?"

 _Something such as cutting you open and resorting to organ trafficking knowing that I had caught onto his plan…._

"No of course not! Dino-san isn't like that."

"Then nothing to worry about right?"

 _And Sawada is of course misreading the situation. He'll probably thank me someday._

* * *

 _AGHHHHHHHH! Murder is a viable option right?_

The next morning you awoke with a painstaking headache, having barely gotten any sleep. Sleeping over wouldn't have been too bad if Dino hadn't been as clumsy in his sleep as he was in person. He had not only rolled over onto your side of the floor several times, but fell over onto you on his endless restroom runs. You were this close to shoving a pillow onto his face and suffocating him in his sleep.

 _This boy is just giving me more reasons to get rid of him, as if my original reason wasn't more than enough._

After getting dressed for school, you all headed to the kitchen for breakfast. As Dino was pulling out a seat beside Sawada, you slipped yourself into chair.

"Um." Dino began, hesitating after seeing your glare. He awkwardly scratched his neck, heading to the other side of the table. Sawada watched the encounter with confusion. He leaned over to inquire about your behavior, but you ignored him.

 _What he doesn't know won't hurt him._

After breakfast, the three of you headed outside. Dino's subordinates surrounded the estate, acting as if they casually wandered to the Sawada residence. Joining them was Gokudera who was ecstatic to see Sawada so early in the morning. His face fell upon seeing you and Dino.

"What are they doing here Tenth?" he glared.

"Class rep and Dino-san stayed over."

"What?" he screamed out, most likely from shock that his precious Tenth hadn't invited him to sleep over. His gaze wandered onto Dino's tattoo, muttering out "Bucking-horse Dino."

Yamamoto then arrived greeting the crew and leading them towards school. You grimaced as you were pulled along with them.

 _Ugh never staying over again. No sleep, a hectic morning, please just give me the solace of an early death._

As the four of you walked to school Gokudera explained Dino's background in the "mafia" while Sawada listened in admiration. You scoffed, not falling for any of it. Sawada was so naïve and trusting, the perfect target.

Suddenly a black car pulled up and Sawada was whisked away. You all stood there in shock as the car sped up out of sight. Reborn appeared from behind explaining that Sawada had been kidnapped by the yakuza for some reason. Gokudera and Yamamoto rushed away at once, while you stayed behind.

 _Yakuza my ass. Kidnapping had Dino's name written all over it._

"So Reborn mind telling me the actual truth seeing as you're in on this too?" you harshly spit out.

He smirked back. "Just like our class rep to be one step ahead."

"Oh I'm more than just one step ahead of this. I've been trying to play it relatively safe after finding out everything, but if you don't tell me right now what you and Dino did to Sawada so God help me I will make living so painful you two will wish you were dead."

Dino stepped out from behind with Sawada still tied up next to him. "You don't need to worry about Tsuna, he's safe."

"Yeah he'll be safe once he gets as far away as possible from you two."

You stepped up in front of Sawada, becoming a boundary between him and Dino.

"I've been trying to tell you this Kobayashi-san, but you misunderstood the conversation from last night." explained Dino.

You glared back. "And how do I know you're not just gonna spew lies?"

"He couldn't have made this up because he's not a genius." interceded Reborn.

You scoffed. "Okay then explain to me why you were propositioning me last night and why you just tried kidnapping Sawada."

As Dino explained the whole situation, you were still wary with disbelief. You shook your head. "So you're telling me I'm not only wrong, but the mafia is real."

"Yes?" he unsurely stated.

"No. I refuse to believe this." you replied.

"Reborn…" Dino looked over at the toddler, seeking assistance.

"I think we should concern ourselves with Yamamoto and Gokudera. They marched into Yakuza territory alone after all."

"What were you thinking Reborn?" they both shouted out.

 _And so we all ran to the Momokyokai hideout, although Dino forced me to stay outside and miss the action. The situation was quickly remedied and Sawada was somehow left in only his underwear. Unfortunately this was now what I have come to consider as a normal day. Afterwards we went back to Sawada's house and decided to part ways with Dino (thank the lord)._

* * *

"I'm still not trusting you." you stated as he exited the room. "There is absolutely no way I will believe the mafia is an actual entity I am involved with."

Dino chuckled at your obstinacy. "Even if you deny it, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's easier to accept it now if you plan on being in Tsuna's life."

"All the more reason to deny it. Sawada wouldn't last in the mafia, have you seen him?"

"Good thing he's got you around then. You'll take good care of him." he laughed, tousling your hair.

You glared, pushing his hand off your head. "And what makes you so sure of that?"

"You said you'd make our lives a living hell if we did anything to him didn't you?" he cheekily smiled causing your cheeks to heat up upon remembering that outburst.

 _I should have suffocated him in his sleep._

* * *

Let me know what you guys think! I do have more chapters in mind, hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently this upcoming week ^^


	9. Chapter 9

**Two chapters, two days in a row! I must be possessed with all this sudden updating lol. I'm hoping to make up for the monthly updates I missed and get the story progressing, so do look forward for future updates! Hope you enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _New year, new me right? Indeed that is so seeing as today, the very first day of the year I have decided to leave my house to willingly partake in an activity Sawada & Co invited me to. Now you must be wondering why the sudden change of heart? Have I finally gone soft? What a ridiculous thing to assume._

Sawada wearily observed his surroundings, concerned that everyone had gathered because of one of Reborn's silly schemes.

"Class rep even you're here?" he asked, noting your presence.

You softly smiled speaking in a pleasant tone. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

His body filled with dread hearing you speak in such an odd manner. What exactly was going on with you?

"Today is the New Year's "Family Versus" Battle in Vongola Style." announced Reborn. "I called everyone out for that reason. And here comes out our opponent."

Dino arrived with his subordinates following behind which Sawada noted only caused your eerie smile to widen.

 _Yes that's right today was my chance for vengeance. Dino was going to be demolished if I had my way. Not only had he not left Japan following our initial encounter, he had continued to insinuate ideas of Sawada and me. Sawada and me of all things. Apparently human decency was a quality that did not occur in me naturally, so of course it meant I had some sort of feelings for Sawada, god knows he meant romantic ones at that._

* * *

 _At some point in time Sawada had been hospitalized following an outing with Dino. As class rep I obviously had to visit him for the class. Class representative? Could it be any more obvious why I was there?_

"Sawada?" you asked, peering into the room for the brown haired boy.

"Class rep?" he squinted towards the door.

"Yup." you replied, lifting the basket up towards him. "Got you some fruit since you're probably in the hospital for malnutrition."

"Actually it's a broken leg."

"If you weren't malnourished your bones wouldn't break so easily." you stated matter-of-factly, placing the basket on the table nearby. You pulled out a stool near the bed and plopped onto it. "I'll peel you a tangerine."

"Thanks."

As you peeled away the orange skin, you felt eyes on your back. Sawada looked up towards the door. "Dino-san!"

"Hey Tsuna! Kobayashi-san." he lifted his hand up.

You hummed in acknowledgement, still focused on peeling.

"Kobayashi-san are you peeling fruit for Tsuna?"

 _No you idiot I'm doing this for fun. In fact I'm going to devour the whole tangerine myself. This whole basket is actually for me. I'm gonna take it home right after._

Instead you opted for a mere hum with an added nod this time.

"You'd make such a good wife wouldn't you?" he laughed slapping you on the back. The tangerine slipped out of your hands and rolled under the bed. You blinked twice, got up from your seat and left the room without a word.

 _How the hell did he even make such a jump? As if peeling fruit was such a skill. He literally just speaks for the sake of speaking. Of course that was just the beginning for the number of awkward things Dino had said in front of us. Sawada was in love with Sasagawa for God's sake why did Dino keep pushing boundaries? And so I have decided to utterly demolish him under the guise of friendly competition._

As the family battle progressed, the Vongola side continued to lose and you had no opportunity to showcase your skills. In the final round the teams were challenged to create rice cake. You were in disbelief. Of all the things to be left with it had to be your Achilles heel, cooking. You sat back and let the rest of the group finish up. The results came out and the other team's looked horrible, so you could only assume you guys would win. Or so you thought until Sawada opened the container to reveal purple steaming mush.

 _What in God's name could have possibly made something so foul?_

You smirked as an idea popped into your head. "Hey Dino~" you called over in a singsong voice. Sawada flinched at the ominous tone of your joy while Dino hesitatingly laughed.

"Why not try some of our rice cake?" you smiled widely, your eyes closed.

He gulped, before turning heel in the opposite direction.

"But wait come back!" you gleefully called, following after him menacingly.

 _Maybe this will teach him otherwise._

* * *

 _Valentine's Day, another day where women have to go out of their way to feed men in an expression of feelings. How pointless._

You jotted down your thoughts onto the journal, abhorring how the day progressed. Of course it was just your luck to be in the same class as Yamamoto and Gokudera, two of the most popular boys in the freshman year. Girls kept squealing about, running into the classroom to dump their chocolate, either to get graciously thanked by Yamamoto or horrendously howled at by Gokudera. You weren't much for the culinary arts and after the rice ball incident you refused to shove food down any man's throat only for ungrateful commentary. If the cooking hadn't killed him, it couldn't have been that bad.

"So class rep no chocolates this year?" asked Yamamoto, settling down in the chair in front of you. He straddled in the seat and rested his arms on the back, placing his chin on his forearms.

"If you want chocolate there are convenience stores for a reason." you replied, not bothering to look up. "Not to mention I'm sure you have more than enough with your hoards of female fans."

He laughed. "I meant in general."

"Do you really see me partaking in these types of festivities Yamamoto?" you asked, raising a brow.

"It's not all that bad." he smiled, flashing his teeth.

"Says the boy who's getting boatloads of chocolate." you muttered.

 _This holiday was not worth the effort, nor would it ever be._

* * *

 _It was that time of the year again. Cherry blossom season. Unfortunately in Namimori that meant lining up early to get a good spot in the one park that existed in this town._

"So do tell me again why I have to be dragged around?" you asked the trio with your arms crossed.

Nature was not your forte. Nature meant bugs, wind, dirt, and allergies. Grass made you itchy, the heat made you sweat, the wind messed up your hair, and did you have to go on? The comforts of home were known as comforts for a reason, because they were preferred. If man could truly face nature why would houses and shelters have been built?

"Quit complaining! Reborn-san expects us to find good seating, so just shut up and do it." commanded Gokudera.

You rolled your eyes at his incessant need for the validation of a toddler. If Reborn hadn't told you he'd send them to your house to forcibly drag you out, you wouldn't have willingly come here in the first place. Those three knowing the location of your house, the one solace from their nonsense was on the same nightmarish level as confronting the outdoors.

A few minutes of wandering later, you all managed to find a clear spot with a good view. Of course this was suspiciously idealistic, so it was no surprise when a delinquent appeared to make threats. Gokudera easily knocked him out with a knee to the stomach, only for the main psychopath to rear his head.

"Great Gokudera, you got Hibari Kyoya to come out. While he kicks all of your asses, I will gladly leave the premise."

 _So not cleaning up after these three again._

"How about a game?" proposed Reborn, who had appeared from the tree branch. "First one whose knees touch the ground loses."

 _Unsurprisingly Gokudera and Yamamoto were down in under a minute. Somehow Sawada pulled through and Hibari lost. I was really hoping otherwise. If these three ended up in the hospital again that would mean I could go home. I guess the cherry blossom trees are aesthetically pleasing though. And cherry blossoms signal the start of spring, which means we're about to go up a grade. This could be the last moment we spend together while being in the same class. Really puts things in perspective…._

* * *

 _Dear God why do you do this to me?_

You scanned the list of names under your class mentally counting the people you had recognized from your first year class. Basically 95% of the class was the same. Of course this meant you would be pushed into becoming class representative yet again. Everyone was already comfortable with relying on you, the stoic and diligent class rep who epitomized responsibility. There may have been a vote this time, but the likelihood of anyone coming in and sweeping it out from under your feet was unlikely.

You entered the class spotting the usual crowd of Sawada and company.

"Hey class rep." Sawada greeted you.

You distastefully side eyed his greeting. "Sawada I'm technically not the class rep anymore."

"Oh that's right." he chuckled awkwardly. "I don't think anyone else will be running though."

"Of course not." you rolled your eyes.

 _Honestly speaking did they even know me as anything aside from the class rep? It's as if these people thought I was the living definition of the role when I didn't ask for the job in the first place._

You watched as class began and Reborn disguised as a teacher called for everyone's attention to vote for a class representative. Another student readily nominated Naito Longchamp, one of the new students in your class who was known for his wild stories. In retaliation Gokudera nominated Sawada.

"Gokudera-kun, what are you saying?" he shouted out in bewilderment. "Wouldn't class rep be the best choice?"

Sawada pointed over at you while you threw back a glare. The other students turned their heads and muttered in agreement claiming that Sawada's proposal was the most logical choice.

 _Well of course it was. Neither of these idiots would live up to my legacy._

You stood from your chair, releasing an exasperated sigh. "If you're gonna nominate me isn't it excessive to automatically call me by the title I'm running for? Although neither of you are much competition it sounds to me that you've already assumed I won. Also Sawada is a candidate is it all right for him to nominate someone? No? Then I refuse his nomination."

Sawada stared back wearily as you silently sat back down.

"Well in that case can I nominate Kobayashi?" asked Yamamoto, raising his hand.

You slowly turned your head towards his direction, leering at him. Of course Yamamoto merely flashed you a toothy grin.

 _I will murder this boy._

* * *

With that being said, Reborn forced you three and your respective nominators to the front of the class, prompting persuasive words of praise from the pairs.

"Then it's basically a bragging contest between us!" squealed out Longchamp. "I'll start first! My skill is that I fail every single course!"

"Tsuna does that too." countered Reborn.

You brought a hand to your head and closed your eyes.

 _Idiots, truly idiots._

"I pass all my classes." you stated with a straight face.

The rest of the class mimicked your expression, questioning why a competition was even necessary at this point. Following the students' remarks, Longchamp attempted to appease them by showing off his girlfriend. Gokudera's rebuttal was the mention of Sawada's tutor Reborn, while Yamamoto interceded to mention you occasionally tutored both him and Sawada.

"Aren't we all going to vote for Kobayashi-san anyway? Longchamp and Sawada definitely don't seem right for this." stated the class in unison.

Their actions were unsurprising to you. Of course you'd get the role again, no one else wanted to shoulder the burden or push it off to the incapable. Just as you were ready to accept the renewal of your title, Longchamp fell to the ground waking up half naked with tears streaming down his face. He began to ramble about the misfortunes he had endured throughout his life receiving the sympathy of those in the room.

You scoffed at his pathetic pathos play, marching over and kicking him down. "You really think you're going to come out with tears and deprive me of a title I clearly deserve? Well Longchamp if this keeps up I can reassure you that your future will be twice as miserable as your past." you growled out at him.

His body laid on the ground in fetal position, tears still running. "Please vote for Kobayashi-san." he dejectedly muttered out.

You turned to politely smile at the rest of the class who quickly conceded their votes to you.

* * *

After voting had ended, you walked alongside the trio through the streets. Gokudera grumbled about Sawada not winning the position although he had rightfully deserved it.

"All those idiots are blind Tenth! They were ready to vote for that dumbass Longchamp the second he started crying! It's outrageous just thinking about it!"

Tsuna nervously laughed, relieved he hadn't gotten the vote. "I think it was more surprising that class rep threatened him at the end. I thought you didn't even want the job."

"You really think I'm going to give up this role to Longchamp of all people Sawada?" you replied, sneering at the very thought. "As if I'd lose to him."

The banter continued until the group hit the intersection where you parted ways. You followed Sawada after agreeing to stop by to help him prep for the new school year.

Sawada spoke up breaking the silence. "I know you said you didn't want to give up the position to Longchamp, but even before that you seemed to really reject it."

As you turned to look at him he threw his hands up nervously. "It's completely fine if you don't want to talk about it, but you've just helped me out a lot so I wanted to see if I could do anything…"

You blankly stared at him, looking slightly vexed. For someone so dumb Sawada had strangely exceptional intuition. "That's nice of you to offer Sawada, but there's not much to say."

 _No way was I spilling to Sawada. The fact that I had even showed the slightest bit of concern over something so unimportant was ridiculous enough._

"Ah well okay…" he responded.

You silently weighed the pros and cons of spilling your feelings to him. It was Sawada of all people. He was considerably good-natured, but you were impassive. You didn't talk about feelings; hell you barely even felt them, so how were you supposed to talk about something so ridiculous?

"What's my name?" you quietly asked him.

His brows furrowed in confusion. "Kobayashi?"

"My full name. Do you know it?"

He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, which you automatically knew to mean he did not.

"Kobayashi Michiko. My name isn't class rep, but it seems to be the only way any of you can identify me. I know we're not exactly friends, but if I weren't the class rep would you even know what to call me? There's a reason I was possessive over the job. I may not like it, but am I anything without it?"

"I didn't realize. I'm sorry." he apologized. "But Kobayashi-san I didn't think you would have insecurities about this. People see you as someone responsible and smart and that's why they chose you as class representative. Even without the title it wouldn't make you any less of what you are. You still have your own qualities without being class representative."

You stared back at Sawada, unsure of what expression to make. You quietly mumbled your thanks and bowed your head. To think Sawada's word would actually serve as support.

"Besides I don't think tormenting other competitors into forfeiting is a common trait amongst class reps." he jokingly added.

You laughed at the comment and nodded your head. "Yeah I guess not."

"And I want you to know that I do consider us friends Kobayashi-san. We didn't start off on the best terms, but we've come a pretty far way. I'm sure Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto probably think the same."

You didn't respond, but Sawada could see the slight upward motion tugging at the corner of your mouth. He smiled to himself as you both continued walking to his house.

 _Friends? I've never really had them before, maybe acquaintances at best. As annoying as I might have found Sawada and the rest of them, it had died down a bit. That's not to say I particularly liked them, but the occasional conversation wasn't as painful as it previously was. For one thing I no longer went out of my way to avoid them. Maybe this is what friendship is? I mean I know one year ago I definitely would not have told Sawada about my problems, so I guess we really have come a long way. Honestly speaking it's not completely terrible._

* * *

As romantic as it is to have Tsuna call OC class rep (note the sarcasm) it is highly unrealistic, so he'll eventually have to transition to calling her by a name bc why else would she have one right? Major point of this chapter was to show that she's warming up to them and realizing that she actually has which is why she bothers to hang out with them.

Thanks for reading! And please do review! Thank you to anyone who has previously reviewed, you've basically made my day.


	10. Chapter 10

Really did not realize I hadn't updated in almost 2 months. My summer class just ended so hoping to get another chapter done soon.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Summer is a terrible season._

You pushed up your sunglasses further, slightly adjusting the your sunhat before checking your phone. You pulled out the bottle of sunscreen hastily reapplying a layer over any exposed skin. 2 hours had passed since your last application. 2 hours since you had left your house. Almost 2 hours of Sawada struggling to swim more than 5 meters.

You crouched down next to the pool as he struggled. "You just have to move your arms and legs and pull up your face to breathe. It's a systematic thing."

"I can't just suddenly learn to swim." he frowned. "My potential is just this much."

"Don't overthink it, just do what you do when you're swimming 5 meters, but do it for thrice the amount of time."

Sawada still looked uneasy and instead chose to change the topic. "Reborn told you we were coming to the pool today right?"

"Yeah why?" you asked, raising a brow.

"You didn't bring a swimsuit." he replied, pointing at your attire.

"Do you want to hear the actual reason or the excuse?" you questioned.

He shrugged.

"Menstruation. It's both the reason and the excuse."

Sawada's cheeks turned a bright pink as he hastily muttered out an apology and swam away.

"Oh I think he's finally hitting past 5m." you remarked.

 _Actual reason is prioritizing my skin and hair. Chlorine is terrible for both. Not to mention how disgusting the pool is, swore I saw a Band-Aid floating in the corner. At least Sawada managed to get himself together, would've been better 2 hours earlier of course, but I guess with him later is better than never._

* * *

"Summer's the best!" cheered Yamamoto, only to get a snarky response from Gokudera.

You had to agree with Gokudera though, it was bad enough to go to the pool, but the beach was a whole other terrain. One trip to the beach meant finding sand in everything for the next year. It was impossible to leave the beach cleanly.

You laid out your beach towel as Yamamoto helped put up the parasol for shade. Dropping your bag on the towel, you plopped down and pulled out your book.

"Kobayashi-san aren't you going to come swimming?" asked Sasagawa, leaning down with a soft smile on her face.

"Yeah that's right Mi-chan! You wore such a cute swimsuit too, you can't spend the whole day covered up while hiding behind a book!" protested Miura.

You had no idea why Miura had decided to give you a nickname, nor when you two had developed a first-name basis relationship with one another, but you supposed it was just her way of trying to get closer. How naïve.

You frowned, pulling the cover up closer to your body. "I'm not exactly a fan of the beach Miura."

"Mi-chan I told you to call me Haru. And you'll have a lot of fun!" she said, pulling you up and removing your cover up.

 _That girl is definitely a lot stronger than you'd think. Not to mention majorly persistent._

After Miura successfully dragged you out from under the parasol, she linked arms with you to prevent any escape. The older Sasagawa then decided to introduce his coworkers and former upperclassmen. Still frowning from Miura's actions, you eyed the boys distastefully.

 _They look like assholes especially with those sleazy haircuts and smirks. This is why I don't come to the beach or ever leave the safe haven underneath my parasol._

You eyed the boy obnoxiously flirting with Sasagawa who was very obviously uncomfortable. Just as you shifted forward to pull her away from the creep, you felt a tug on your arm, jerking you away from Miura. You stumbled and heard a low chuckle as one of the boys wrapped his arm around your waist.

"You know you're pretty cute too, come hang out with us." he said.

You threw a disgusted look and held back your gag reflex, struggling to break free of his grasp. However, his grip merely strengthened.

"Come on, I'll keep you good company." he smirked, his hand lowering from your waist and onto your backside, giving it a harsh squeeze.

 _Did he just grab my ass? What the actual f-_

Your eyes widened and you immediately slapped his hand away. You felt another hand on your arm, pulling you backwards away from the boy. Looking up it was none other than Yamamoto wearing an expression of concern and annoyance.

"You okay?" he asked.

You clenched your teeth both disgusted and enraged. No you were most definitely not okay. These sickos needed to get their heads bashed in.

"I am furious." You spoke in a quiet whisper.

* * *

"How about we have a proper athletic competition. Three against three, a swimming race. The losers will be slaves to the winners." suggested the leader of the group.

 _Why would anyone agree to anything these people have to say? If anything the cops should be called and have them dragged off the beach and never allowed back._

However, before anyone could protest Reborn hastily covered their mouths and agreed to the match. The team to get two out of three wins first would win. The match was going seemingly well until Yamamoto turned around the island and didn't come back.

 _Cramps? More like rigged._

The same happened to Gokudera as well. Finally it was Sawada's turn to go up. Surprisingly he did well and you felt just a bit of pride at his improvement.

 _From 5m in the pool to freestyle swimming in the ocean, not bad at all Sawada._

The race was quickly resolved after Sawada saved a girl from drowning and Yamamoto and Gokudera returned. You smiled gleefully when Sawada harshly punched in the leader's face and his subordinates had gotten the same treatment.

 _It would have been nice if I had been the one to do it, but no complaints if they got what they deserved._

* * *

"Onee-chan, onee-chan!" your younger siblings whined. "Let's go to the summer festival!"

They looked up at you with pleading eyes, making it harder to say no. "Fine." You groaned. "Only for a bit though."

"Yay!" they cheered, jumping around the room in celebration.

Your younger sister clung to your arm. "I want to wear a yukata. You too onee-chan, let's dress up."

You sighed. Being an older sibling could be such a pain sometimes. You called your mother from the kitchen to help with the yukata, making sure everyone was ready before you headed out.

* * *

"Onee-chan! They have chocolate bananas, I want one!" screamed Chika at the top of her lungs, before running over.

"Chika, slow down! We don't want to get separated." you shouted, releasing an exasperated sigh.

"One chocolate banana!" she ordered, standing on her tiptoes to see over the counter.

"Here you go." spoke out a familiar voice.

 _Namimori was a tiny town, so it was no surprise that I'd run into them eventually, but the first store there? Really?_

"Gokudera?" you questioned, turning around to see Sawada and Yamamoto as well.

"Kobayashi-san? I didn't expect you to be here." said Sawada.

You shrugged. "I have siblings, they wanted to go. Why do you guys have a booth here?"

Just as Yamamoto opened his mouth to reply, Chika interrupted. "Onee-chan do you know these people?" Who are they? Do you go to school with them?"

She blinked up at you, eyes shining with curiosity. You really wanted to scold her for being so intrusive, but you were weak to her cuteness. She knew you were soft with her when she gave you that bright-eyed look.

"So this is your little sister?" asked Yamamoto. "She's cute."

Chika blushed at the compliment. "Nice to meet you. I'm Chika! This is Chiaki."

Still flustered, she pushed forward your younger brother who shyly bowed his head.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Yamamoto Takeshi." he smiled.

Before Chika could say anymore you hastily introduced Sawada and Gokudera, hoping to quickly make an exit just to stop your younger sister from blabbing anymore.

 _Why couldn't Chika be a little more like Chiaki and learn to stay quiet? They're twins, but they're nothing alike._

"Anyways we should go. You guys must have a lot of work to get done. Now let's say bye." you spoke, your last sentence directed completely at Chika.

She puffed up her cheeks in a pout. "Onee-chan, I want to stay here!"

"Chika." you said with a warning tone.

"It's fine." interrupted Yamamoto. "We only have one box left to sell. I'm gonna go play at the other booths, so why don't you let her come with me?"

Her eyes lit up immediately as she rushed over to Yamamoto's side. She grabbed his hand and turned around to give you a sly smile. "I'll be back soon Onee-chan"

You eyed her suspiciously. What exactly was that smile all about?

Gokudera and Reborn soon excused themselves as well, leaving you at the booth with Sawada and Chiaki.

"So I guess you should be going now?" asked Sawada.

"As much as I would like to, Yamamoto is coming back with Chika and if we leave she'll probably have no idea where to find us. Although, I doubt it'll matter much with how taken she is by Yamamoto."

The two of you chatted for a bit, when a sudden unknown figure dashed through, snatching the box with all the booth's funds.

 _Leave it to Sawada's luck to get robbed in broad daylight in the 5-minute timespan where anyone who can actually hold their own is gone._

Sawada chased down the robber and you followed behind him, instructing Chiaki to stay behind at the booth. If anything was going down, you were not getting your younger brother involved. The robber came to a stop and you recognized the ringleader to be the same group from the beach.

 _Of course these sickos have nothing better to do with their summer. First it's harassing girls at the beach, now it's robbing festivals. How have they not gotten their asses beaten before?_

"After the incident, every time I look into the mirror I see how much my pride was scarred…I've been waiting for this moment! I'll make sure you never speak again." he threated Sawada, grabbing his by the collar.

"Get over yourselves." you rolled your eyes. "It's not as if any of you were actually attractive before."

"Oh and it's even that girl from last time?" he smirked, releasing Sawada and heading towards you. You held your fists tightly; ready to punch him straight in the face only to have Sawada jump up in between you two.

"Don't touch Kobayashi-san. You have a problem with me, so don't involve her." his voice was trembling and you could see his legs shaking, but he still didn't back down.

"Well I guess I'll just have to beat you up first then!" he shouted, reaching out to grab Sawada once again. Sawada immediately closed his eyes, prepared to take a hit. As the boy's face loomed closer, you closed your eyes and swung your fist into his nose. His grip on Sawada loosened as he backed away holding his nose.

"I'll kill you!" he screamed.

You grabbed Sawada's hand, running towards the staircase only to find yourselves surrounded.

Soon Hibari joined, followed by Yamamoto and Gokudera. A full-blown brawl broke out and you managed to slip out of it and reunite with Chiaki and Chika.

"Okay you two now what we're going to do is go around to each booth and ask if they have a first aid kit. Got it?" you asked.

They nodded and the three of you started your search.

* * *

"Why does it feel like all I ever do is treat your wounds?" you asked the exhausted trio.

They all shrugged their shoulders while you placed another bandage on Sawada's cheek.

As your eyes met you hurriedly whispered a thank you. "You made a good distraction for me punching him in the face." you said with a soft chuckle.

Sawada lightly smiled.

"In all honesty though it was pretty courageous to jump in front of me even though you would've gotten hurt. You've grown a bit Sawada." you smiled.

"Onee-chan!" called out Chika. "I think Take-nii could use some help." she nervously giggled out, as the loosely wrapped bandage on his arm came undone.

You sighed, walking over to tend to Yamamoto's injuries. As you finished up with his wrapping, you noticed him eyeing your fist.

"You're not hurt right?" he asked you, gesturing towards your slightly reddened hand.

"It's a bit swollen, but nothing's broken."

He picked up the gauze and delicately wrapped it around your hand. "You shouldn't do dangerous things. You know when Chika heard you guys chased after someone she was so worried she started crying."

"Sounds like her." you responded.

"You know I was really worried too." he looked straight into your eyes with a serious face.

You gave him a questioning look in response, beginning to grow nervous under his gaze.

"I can take care of myself Yamamoto." you mumbled out.

The corners of his mouth turned upwards. "That's why I'm so worried. You like to do everything by yourself. I feel like I need to protect you."

"What?" you choked out, feeling your cheeks flush.

"Yeah you don't depend on people enough. You're like a little kid who tries too hard." he laughed, tousling your hair.

You pushed his hand off, shouting in protest. "You say little, but we're the same age you know."

"I just want you to know if you have any problems, you can come talk to me."

"Chiaki! Chika! It's getting late, let's go." you raced up from your seat, ignoring Yamamoto's last remark.

* * *

 _Little kid? Why am I the little kid when I'm the one most levelheaded and mature one out of them?_

Yamamoto's declaration had left you irritated. While you tried to organize your thoughts, your siblings entered your room.

"Onee-chan." Chika spoke up. "What are you doing?"

"Not much. Why?" you replied, not bothering to look up.

"I wanted to talk about Take-nii."

"What's there to say? I'm kind of busy Chika, so if it has anything to do with how great he is I'll pass."

"I was gonna say I think he likes you!"

 _At such a young age Chika already says worrisome things. Watch her more closely from now on._

"Onee-chan you're not listening! I'm telling you he really wants to know more about you. He kept asking about what you're like at home and about stuff like your birthday and hobbies. Also he's really cool, he won a bunch of prizes at the booth. I think you should date him!"

You side-eyed your little sister with a look of concern.

 _Unless he was actually implying he has a thing for children I don't think that will ever happen._

"Chika, Yamamoto does not like me okay?" you said with exasperation. Was she going to let this go any time soon?

"But you like him don't you?" she asked, her head tilted in confusion.

You stopped writing and dropped your pen, turning to face Chika. "What?"

"Don't you? He's really nice and when you were fixing his bandage you guys were looking at each other really close and your face was completely red."

"Chika no."

"Your face is red right now too!" she pointed out.

You sprang up from chair. "Okay I think it's time for you two to go."

"Wait, no! Chiaki has something to say!" she hurriedly shoved Chiaki in front of her.

"Well Chika was saying that Take-nii was really cool and you should date him, but I think Tsuna-nii was really cool when he threw himself in front of that mean guy to protect you."

"Okay you two time to go!" you pushed them both out of your room, successfully locking the door.

 _Chika wants me to date Yamamoto and Chiaki is implying I should date Sawada? What is wrong with these children?_

You pulled out the hand mirror from your desk drawer. Your face didn't have even the slightest tint of red anywhere. You scoffed, thinking about Chika's earlier statement. That girl really was too much.

* * *

Thanks for reading! And pls lmk how you thought the chapter was!


	11. Chapter 11

Finally getting better with updates

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KHR

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _The past 12 hours have been a nightmare. Namimori was thrown into some ridiculous mess bc of a group of fugitive middle school students. Yes I kid you not fugitive middle school students._

 _It all started from when Yamamoto and I were dismissed from school on account of it being a half-day. With all the students in the hospital from the recent attacks you would think school would be closed down, but go figure. Yamamoto being the annoyingly protective person he is immediately offered to walk me home after class._

"Hey!" he smiled, waiting for you by your seat. "I'll walk you home."

"I already told you I can take care of myself Yamamoto." you glared.

 _Of course I was still offended that he thought I was a child trying too hard. Not to mention he made it sound like I was a fragile damsel in distress who would break down if left unprotected. If I made it on my own this long, I think I'll be just fine._

"I'm just trying to be cautious with all the attacks happening. It's not safe for anyone to walk alone." he responded.

"If I can take that as you saying you need me to be around for your own safety, then sure let's walk home together." you countered.

He chuckled. "Yup I need you to protect me."

 _His sentence was undoubtedly full of sarcasm, but so was mine. As such we made our way down the streets eventually hearing about a Namimori student getting into a fight. We both immediately knew the only uninjured person who would do anything so stupid would be Gokudera._

"You can walk home the rest of the way on your own right?" asked Yamamoto.

"I could have walked the entire way on my own. If you're going to go look for Gokudera I'm coming along too. He's probably going to need first aid if he's in a fight."

Yamamoto looked hesitant, but once you started heading towards the location of the fight he hurriedly followed behind.

 _And there we ended up seeing Gokudera who was bloody on the ground with an even bloodier figure hovering over him. Looks like they're both gonna need more than just a couple of bandages. Yamamoto successfully scared off the other guy, but there was still the matter of taking care of Gokudera's wounds._

"Why is Hayato here, instead of the hospital?" asked Bianchi, holding a gift basket in her hands, completely unamused.

 _That's exactly what I had wondered. According to Reborn hospitals were "unsafe", but the school nurse seemed like another threat to be wary of._

From the corner of your eye, you noted Sawada and Reborn had exited the room. Seconds later you could hear Sawada shrieking, a characteristic trait at this point. You went out into the hallway, wondering what the commotion was.

 _Of course it was up to Sawada to stop the massacre bc he was supposed to prove himself as a mafia boss. Why exactly is the current boss sending children to take care of other murderous children? This doesn't seem like a responsible adult thing to do?_

"Honestly I agree with you Sawada." you nodded. "It's ridiculous that all of this is being put on to you. Not to mention your skills are noticeably lacking."

"Thanks?" he questionably replied.

"If you keep escaping from this the victims will only increase." Reborn spoke up.

"What those guys are doing is really strange. Why get everyone into trouble…. That Mukuro guy pisses me off!" replied Sawada.

"If he pisses you off that much, go over there and beat him up." you suggested.

"There's no way that I can go against a guy like that when even Hibari-san hasn't come back…"

You rolled your eyes. "No one is forcing you to go alone, also do remember they're just a bunch of middle school students."

 _And so Sawada, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Bianchi, Reborn and I set out for Kokuyou._

* * *

 _Kokuyou is a landfill of broken down buildings and dead animal carcasses. I never thought the day would come where I would be covered in dead animal meat. Of course with Sawada & Co. I had the opportunity to this traumatizing experience. I am disgusted and appalled. _

_Soon after being slathered in dead animal remains, Yamamoto was thrown into a crazy battle with some shape shifting human animal. This whole trip was slowly turning into something more twisted than I had expected._

"Isn't there anything we can do?" you asked, kneeling down to peer into the dome. "If we were to aim a few rocks at that guy's head what's the chance of him getting a concussion?"

"Even less of a chance of that than of the rocks actually hitting him." replied Reborn. "I do know something that might help though." he said with a smirk, kicking Sawada into the hole.

 _Having to protect Sawada gave Yamamoto the motivation he needed to win the battle and that was the end of that guy. Afterwards Reborn gathered us to show a picture of the supposed trio we had to eliminate._

"The one in the middle is Rokudo Mukuro."

You furrowed your brows looking at the picture. "Full offense, but I thought you said he was a middle school student. He looks like he could be 30 in this picture."

"Instead of focusing on the details why don't you go bandage up Yamamoto's arm." commanded Reborn.

You shrugged and went on to your task.

"Anyway, looks like the spectacle freak is still out. And we've beaten the animal freak. I didn't expect bringing Mukuro down to be such a breeze." said Gokudera with a grin.

 _Of course Gokudera's rare positive attitude turned out to be a jinx bc we immediately fell into further trouble._

From the bottom of the dome, you all could hear animal boy laughing at your naiveté. "I was faking so that I didn't have to confess anything to you. But, no matter what I tell you guys there won't be a problem because there's no way you can defeat Mukuro-san!"

In retaliation Gokudera threw sand at him, whereas Bianchi threw a miniature boulder. You stared at Reborn prepared to say 'I told you so.'

However, before you could he responded, "He was tied down, there's a difference."

* * *

 _While we continued our journey we ran into the previously mentioned further trouble. One was a girl whose murder weapon was a clarinet and the other was a gross old man. Clarinet girl was easily gotten rid of by Bianchi. Word to the wise; don't put anything near your mouth if you're fighting someone who fights with poisonous food. The more frustrating problem was the creepy old man or as he called himself Birds. As if he wasn't already disturbing enough._

Birds proudly showed the cameras he had on Sasagawa and Miura as well as the disfigured pair of twins he sent to follow them.

Gokudera immediately grabbed the man, threatening him to call off the assassins. He laughed in response claiming the orders would go through regardless. His first request was for Sawada to get beat up until he was bleeding.

"I'll do it!" shouted out Sawada. "Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, beat me up!"

Bianchi quickly threw her fist out at Sawada. Satisfied with the result, Birds demanded Sawada be stabbed with a knife down to the hilt.

 _And the sick freak got a nosebleed bc he was so overexcited. Honestly if we had murdered him first how was he going to give out any commands? The two were saved right before the knife pierced Sawada and he even managed to land a punch on Birds._

* * *

Following the battle with Birds, Fuuta appeared and ran back into the forest. Sawada quickly ran after him, as did you. You both searched for Fuuta, calling out his name, but to no avail.

"Maybe we should have turned right earlier." said Sawada.

You frowned. "I could have sworn he just ran straight ahead. Why are there so many trees in the way?" you clicked your tongue, pushing through the branches.

You two made your way out of the bushes, stumbling upon a Kokuyou student. The boy was ecstatic at your arrival and intention to rescue the group. He barraged Sawada with questions while you eyed him suspiciously. You lightly tugged on Sawada's sleeve, eyes narrowed at the boy.

"Sawada we should get back. The others are probably worried." you whispered.

The boy's ears perked up. "Oh there are others? How many others? They must be strong."

 _His super human hearing should've been the defining factor of why he was obviously evil. Aside from the obvious interrogation he was conducting here._

Sawada continued to blab and you decided your best option was to completely intercede.

"Okay well we really have to go." you said, dragging Sawada away.

A grimace appeared on your face while you two walked back. "Sawada next time we go into a forest, do not talk to any creepy strangers on the way."

"He was a hostage and he gave us information on Hibari-san. I don't think he was that bad of a guy."

You raised a brow at him. "You're still much too naïve. I don't know who he was, but he was obviously digging for info. And he kept asking about Reborn. I don't think his main concern was your child rearing skills. Also if we managed to find a hostage wandering the woods, this Rokudo Mukuro person obviously doesn't keep very close watch over them. If he could have escaped this far on his own why does he still need rescuing?"

Sawada wore a confused expression. "That is a little odd."

"Yeah it reeks of suspicion. That is why you don't go blabbing off to people you have just met. You never know what they might do with that info. What if he's actually a spy?"

"That would be terrible." agreed Sawada. "Once we beat Rokudo Mukuro, everything should be fine though."

"Speaking of which, isn't that him right over there?" you pointed out. You were both at the top of a hill and spotted the man at the bottom, swinging a giant iron ball in his hands.

"That is Rokudo Mukuro!" He quickly analyzed the situation, eyes frantically darting from Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Bianchi, two of the three who were already down.

"Hey you! What are you doing!" he shouted out, immediately regretting his outburst. Reborn quickly shot a bullet at him and he rushed into the battlefield to take down Rokudo Mukuro.

* * *

 _Who would've thought the guy Sawada defeated was unsurprisingly not Rokudo Mukuro. Instead he was Lanchia whose whole life got messed up bc of Mukuro. Now who exactly is Mukuro? Remember that suspicious boy from earlier? Yes that's the one. We didn't figure that out until after entering the run down building though._

"Yamamoto is out of this." affirmed Reborn.

"Let's move him to a safer place." suggested Bianchi.

Reborn looked up at you. "Kobayashi, I think you should stay behind and watch Yamamoto."

"Are you serious?" you asked.

He nodded. "You can't fight, it's best if you stay out here."

"I agree Kobayashi-san." interrupted Sawada. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt during this fight with Mukuro."

"Fine." you complied, plopping down onto the ground. You knew when it came down to it you'd find your way inside the building somehow.

* * *

 _Waiting for people is always the worst part. For 15 minutes I restrained myself from going inside to see what was happening, but once the explosions went off I was done with waiting._

Your eyes widened as you heard a barrage of explosions go off in the building. You looked over at Yamamoto who was still unconscious, lying by your side. Leaving him behind wouldn't hurt, there was no one left to attack you two anyway. Heading towards the building you hurried up to the third floor.

Once there you saw Sawada on the ground, covered in heavy injuries. You ran into the room, rushing to his side. Pulling out gauze from the first aid kit, you attempted to halt some of the bleeding.

"Kobayashi," Reborn called out. "You're supposed to be waiting outside."

You threw him a pointed look, still applying pressure onto the gauze. "That's your concern right now when Sawada is bleeding out in this rat hole?"

"Tsuna will be fine, it's you that's more worrisome." he replied.

 _Me? I was the worrisome one? How was I supposed to know he shot Sawada with some kind of super power bullet? All I saw was the boy seconds away from death._

"Sawada, you better not die on me." you muttered when his eyes suddenly shot open.

"Oh thank god" you breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't you dare move, you're in no condition to-"

You were cut off as Sawada pulled you into his arms. When you turned your head you saw that he had grabbed the enemy's weapon, which had been inches away from stabbing you.

"Didn't I tell you to wait outside?" he asked, his clear orange eyes staring intently into yours.

You slowly nodded. He placed his hands on your shoulders. "Stay right here and don't move."

 _The battle with Mukuro had been shorter than expected, but intense. I didn't think Sawada of all people could fight, let alone that well. Reborn said something about it being the effects of the new bullet. Mukuro was also a bit pitiful. Him and the other two who had escaped were victims of human experimentation; makes sense why he would want to destroy the thing that ruined his life. The Vindice (aka mafia police) came in and took them away. Who knows what'll happen to them…._

Sawada approached you, still seated at the spot he had told you not to move from. "Kobayashi-san, aren't you going to get up?"

"I would, but I think I've lost all the strength in my legs." you said, slightly frowning.

He crouched down in front of you. "I'll carry you down then."

You were hesitant; Sawada had already gone through enough in the battle. Having him carry you down when you had done nothing made you uncomfortable. "I'm fine Sawada, just give me a couple of minutes."

"It's okay Kobayashi-san." he replied, grabbing your arms and putting them around his shoulders. He stood and you placed your legs around his hips to steady yourself. "It must have been hard on you, seeing the fight with Mukuro."

"It was probably worse for you." you mumbled. "You worked hard today."

"I'm just glad everyone is safe now." he replied.

"Yeah…"

 _Today Sawada did something completely dangerous and completely insane. If any of them ever do anything this dangerous again I will personally kill them myself._

Sawada exited the building and witnessed the rest of the group being tended to by the medical team.

"Sawada," you nudged him. "You can put me down now."

"Okay" he replied, lowering you down when a shocking pain hit his arm. His whole body began to seize in pain causing him to pass out.

You sighed, pushing a hand to your forehead. "I told him I'd be fine walking, but of course he decides to overexert himself."

Kneeling down you placed his head onto your lap. "Consider this a thanks for carrying me down."

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Did anyone else not realize the Mukuro stuff all happened in the same day? In retrospect the Kokuyou arc was considerably short. Next chapter will be the start of the Varia Arc.


	12. Chapter 12

It has been a very busy time. I will attempt to update another chapter by the end of this week.

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Just when I thought there would be some peace in this town, things start to get wild again._

"It's almost dinnertime, I should get going." you said, packing your bag. You had spent another few hours at Sawada's house helping him with his homework.

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" replied Sawada, as you two exited the room and made your way downstairs.

You shook your head. "No it's getting late. I don't want to impose."

You both entered the kitchen to see a lavish feast prepared and Nana who was joyfully cooking more.

"Dad's coming back after two years." she gleefully announced.

 _The look on Sawada's face was unbelievable. He had a huge outburst thinking his dad had disappeared and recently been found. Apparently his dad wanted to look good in front of his mom so they fed him some ridiculous excuse. I can see why Sawada is how he is, definitely some daddy issues buried underneath that mess._

Noticing his discomfort you decided to change the topic. "I'll stay for dinner, there's no way you guys can finish this much food on your own."

Sawada gave a halfhearted smile in your direction. "Yeah sure."

* * *

On your way to school your phone began vibrating. Upon checking the caller ID it was Yamamoto. Who else besides him would call you this early in the morning? You contemplated whether you should pick up or not. He knew that you were more into texting than talking, so it should be important enough if he was making a phone call.

"What?" you asked, answering the call.

"Hey Kobayashi!" he greeted. "We're gonna go hang out, so I wanted to know if you wanted to come along."

"You do know we have school today right?" you questioned. He couldn't have been that dumb.

He laughed. "It's just prep today, so we figured it'd be fine. Tsuna looked down, so we figured we should help him take his mind off of it."

"Do you know what he was upset about?" His expression from last night after hearing about his dad flashed through your mind.

"His dad is coming back home after a while and he doesn't seem too excited about it."

Unsurprisingly your assumption that it was about his estranged father was correct. "Sure I'll go. Where are we meeting?"

 _Sawada may have loved to wallow in his own misery, but it didn't stick around this long usually. He shouldn't be worrying about things like this when he's got other things to do._

* * *

At the shopping center you all ended up separating into smaller groups. You knew Sawada would want to take this opportunity to be with Sasagawa, so you thought it would be best to help him out. After all you did agree to help him over a year ago, although the relationship hasn't progressed much since.

"Sawada I'll take care of Lambo, so go hang out with Sasagawa." you said nudging him closer towards her.

 _Helping Sawada win over Sasagawa was the basis of this relationship in the first place. Besides being with her would definitely get his mind off of whatever family business he had going on._

"Lambo-san is thirsty!" he cried out.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go get you something from the vending machine Lambo." you responded, leaving him at a table.

Sasagawa appeared beside you with Sawada to who you threw a questioning look.

"What are you two doing here?" you asked.

"It didn't seem right to just leave the kids with you while we all had fun." explained Sasagawa.

You nodded, while she went back to Lambo to give him the drink. "Did you really throw away an opportunity to be with Sasagawa to babysit?"

"I couldn't say no to Kyoko-chan. And she was right about it feeling weird to leave you with Lambo."

"You have to be a lot more selfish if you want to make things work between you two, but thanks I suppose? Babysitting Lambo alone is always a handful."

You two headed back to the table with drinks in hand for everyone. As you were ready to sit, an explosion occurred and a person slammed into Sawada. Sasagawa and you rushed over to check on him, shortly followed by Gokudera and Yamamoto rushing onto the scene. While you all struggled to help Sawada and the boy, a threatening man with a sword appeared. Reborn told you and Sasagawa to evacuate immediately. You nodded, grabbing Sasagawa's hand and leaving.

"So what exactly was that?" you thought aloud.

"Do you think Tsuna-kun will be okay?" asked Sasagawa, her voice dripping with concern.

Honestly you couldn't say for sure without going back, but what could you even do to help? You didn't do much for them during the battle with Mukuro. If they're severely injured, they'd need more than what a first aid kit has to offer. Still, it felt wrong to leave them behind, especially when you were filled with uncertainty.

"Sasagawa, you go on ahead."

You released her hand and fled before she could protest. Just as you turned around, you bumped into another figure.

"You have to be more careful, Kobayashi." said a familiar voice.

You grimaced. "Dino? Why are you here?"

He smiled. "To help out Tsuna of course, but you really shouldn't be rushing back there. It's dangerous you know?"

 _That phrase is really overused at this point. If I had to count how many times someone has said that to me in the past month alone…_

"Yes I know. Can you just go over there and save them? I'll wait in a corner or something."

"Good girl." he replied, patting your head.

 _God I hate that man._

* * *

After waiting five minutes you decided everything was in the clear and you were safe to walk around as you pleased. Arriving at the scene of the crime, Dino instructed you to follow Sawada and the unknown boy to a hospital they had prepared. There he explained what the man was after. Sawada quickly ran away when faced with the choice, but you stayed behind.

"He wanted this box of rings?" you questioned, with a raised brow. "They're not even whole rings."

"The Vongola Rings are split into halves and when you put the two halves together they become the official ring." explained Reborn.

"So that guy has the other half and wants to put them together. What exactly happens when it suddenly becomes official?"

"The rings are proof of the next generation of Vongola. Whoever has them are considered the head of the family."

"I thought you said Sawada was already the 10th boss anyway?"

"Tsuna didn't get the popular vote, he was just the last person standing."

"So whoever is trying to get these rings wants to take control of Vongola and get rid of Sawada. What should we do?"

"You should go home and leave it to Tsuna and the others. You can't fight, so you'd get in the way." replied Reborn.

You frowned. "Isn't there anything else I can do? Like gathering information or something?"

"We have limited information as is. I don't think you would be able to get any further knowledge considering who the enemy is." said Dino.

"Am I just supposed to go home and pray for the best then?" you asked, clicking your tongue.

They both solemnly nodded.

 _Bullshit._

* * *

The following morning you arrived at school. You had a tendency to be earlier than the trio, so it was no surprise when they weren't found in the room, especially considering yesterday's event. However, as the homeroom teacher entered and you still saw no sign of them you grew confused.

 _It was time for lunch and they still hadn't shown up. They must just not be coming today? Odd. A quiet day is something I haven't had in a while._

When the day came to an end, you packed your bag deciding to stop by Yamamoto and Sawada's houses to drop off the notes and homework. You had figured Gokudera would do fine without the material, but the other two definitely didn't have any leeway with the condition their grades were in. Arriving at the door, you saw a sign posted saying the restaurant was temporarily closed at the moment.

 _Guess I'll just have to stuff the work under the door._

You headed to your next stop, expecting Nana to open the door only to be greeted by an unkempt blonde haired middle-aged man. You eyed the man suspiciously before remembering Sawada's dad was supposed to return home.

"What's a cute girl like you doing here?" he asked with a grin.

 _Why are old men always like this?_

"Just here to drop some work for Sawada because he wasn't in school today." you replied curtly.

"A friend of Tsuna's? Why don't you come in and stay a bit?"

You held back an uncomfortable grimace. "No really I don't want to impose."

"No, no I insist." he said, pulling you into the house. "Come, take a seat."

He ushered you to the sofa, taking a seat across from you. "So I haven't had a chance to properly introduce myself, I'm Tsuna's father, Sawada Iemitsu."

You bowed your head, introducing yourself as well.

 _Why did he force me in here? What am I even supposed to talk about?_

"So what do you think of Tsuna?" he asked, staring intently at you.

You blinked several times, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"As his friend you must know a lot about him. I was just wondering how his life has been going since he doesn't really say much to me…" he let out an embarrassed chuckle. "I haven't been around for a while, so our relationship hasn't exactly been the best."

"Oh." you nodded. "Wouldn't it be better to sit down with Sawada then?"

"He's been a bit preoccupied lately…It's fine if you don't want to say anything, I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask." he smiled.

You hesitated, feeling guilt in the pit of your stomach. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to mention something."

"Really?" he brightened up.

You opened your mouth, before pausing and rethinking what you could possibly say. It wasn't exactly appropriate to tell him that Sawada was mostly incompetent or that his few good qualities had come out when fighting or being involved in mafia activities.

"Sawada is progressing?" you spoke, unsurely.

"Progressing?" he repeated.

"I think he's grown a lot since we first met. He compassionate and even though he's scared of almost everything, when it comes down to it he's pretty reliable." you nodded with your response, mentally applauding your improvising ability. "I guess that's not exactly what you asked though?"

"No I think that was what I needed to hear. It's good to know he's growing up well."

You politely excused yourself claiming you had an urgent task awaiting you. There was no way you would survive any more impromptu questions.

 _Next time I am so leaving the work in the mailbox._

* * *

"Wow, look who finally came to school." you remarked, straight faced.

"Hey, Kobayashi." Yamamoto smiled. "Thanks for all the notes."

"If you're truly grateful, using them and actually passing your exams would be the best form of reciprocation."

"I think the tests will have to wait for a while." he chuckled.

"You guys have been gone for a week, has there been any sort of resolution about the rings?"

 _Yamamoto explained the showdowns that were supposed to happen, but it felt like he was reluctantly leaving out some details. Everything feels a bit too vague. Does he really not have that much info or is it this idea that I need to be protected again? Why is it the one time I want to willingly place myself in the situation everyone leaves me out of it? A year with these guys and I'm still not a part of all this secretive mafia business. "Too dangerous" they say, maybe they should've thought of that before dragging me into the den of a teenage murderer. That was just fine, but observing a group of murderers is suddenly a problem. Why do they think they can handle this situation when they can barely handle their daily lives?_

* * *

Once the sun had set, you departed from your house with one destination in mind, school. They may not have wanted to get you actively involved, but they couldn't stop you from watching. They had stated you should support them after all and what better way than to watch from a "safe" distance.

When you arrived at the school grounds, you saw the rest of the group gathered in a circle.

"Ryohei fight!" cheered Sasagawa.

"Wow…" you solemnly nodded. Of course the older Sasagawa did a solo cheer for himself, but the whole image was just a bit pitiful from a third person perspective.

"Kobayashi-san?" questioned Sawada. "What are you doing here?"

You crossed your arms and glared. "For a week I didn't question anything that was going on, am I not even allowed to support whatever madness this is?"

"T-that's not what I meant." he cowered at your glare. "I just don't think it's safe to be here."

You rolled your eyes. "I'll live."

 _Three words. Teenage murderer's den._

"Besides is that the thanks I get for delivering a week's worth of work to your house everyday?"

Sawada withdrew any further complaints much to your satisfaction. As the battle began, blindingly bright lights flashed on. You attempted to shield your eyes with your hand, grateful when Reborn handed out sunglasses to everyone. To everyone's irritation, Sasagawa was not allowed sunglasses because it would be considered outside interference and invalidate the match.

"Why do they get to play dirty?" you muttered with discontent.

The match progressed, Sasagawa getting thoroughly beaten with little chance of a turnaround. With every hit, you turned your head away realizing why they had warned you to stay away. The opponents were merciless and the matches were disgustingly violent. Sasagawa was covered in bruises and blood. You stared at the ground, not wanting to see much more of the gore fest.

Sasagawa eventually landed a hit on his opponent and brought the tide of the match partially onto his side, but the chance of winning was still far off. A scream of agony followed his second punch, ultimately injuring his other arm. With all hope lost, the female Sasagawa arrived, but what surprised you was the arrival of Sawada's father.

 _So everyone knows about this except me?_

With his sister's presence, Sasagawa gained encouragement and delivered a final winning blow. The match had ended with the enemy attacking their own ally. You were sickened.

 _1\. How is handing out sunglasses considered outside interference, but shooting your teammate isn't?_

 _2\. How do you shoot your own teammate? This is Mukuro all over again, no respect for the bodies of people who work for you. Aren't evil people supposed to have some kind of moral code too?_

With the end of the match you felt queasy. All this gore was not good for you, not to mention the next round they were sending out Lambo. No way were you letting him go out there to get killed.

"Sawada as many questions as I have about your dad knowing about this stuff, I have to say this right now. There is no way you are letting Lambo into that ring tomorrow."

"Yeah I really don't want to." he replied.

"It's not about wanting to, it's about not doing it. You saw how badly Sasagawa senpai got hurt. Lambo may be used to getting kicked around, but these people are out for blood."

Sawada clenched his fists, looking intently at the ground.

You sighed. "I'll be going then. Just make sure you get enough rest tonight."

* * *

 _I could not sleep a bit. They really don't expect to put a five-year-old child in a death match do they? It's horrifying. It can't be real? Sawada isn't that demented. He just can't be. The one thing he does care about is other people._

Standing in the rain all you could think to yourself was how fitting the forecast was. Gloomy, dreary, and pouring with the occasional thunder clapping in the background. Your heart was heavy, body stiff. Sawada had brought Lambo who was clueless and splashing around in puddles.

"You're really going to do this?" you asked bewildered.

"I wonder if there's some way we could withdraw." he muttered.

"Withdraw? Yeah how about you don't let him enter in the first place!" you shouted. "Since when did you stop caring about others' safety?"

"Don't worry." interrupted Yamamoto. "If anything happens we'll jump in."

The others vocalized their agreement, only to be told that rings would be forfeited for whoever wanted to interfere.

"So rings matter more than someone's life." you muttered.

* * *

The next match took place on the rooftop. The group shuffled up the stairs only to see the rooftop had been remodeled into an electric death trap.

"Nope, nope." you shook your head. "Lambo is forfeiting. Let's go home."

"Lambo-san wants to do that!" he ignored your remark, rushing towards the battleground.

You reached out to pull him back. Holding him up to you face you spoke. "Lambo it's really dangerous. If you go there, you'll get hurt."

"Don't you know Lambo-san's invincible? When Lambo-san comes back you have to buy grape candy."

"I'll buy you a bunch of grape candy if you don't go." you tried coercing him.

He merely jumped out of your arms and proceeded with the team cheer. You watched Sawada give him the choice of not going, only to be shrugged off.

"Great effort." you mumbled sarcastically.

* * *

Three seconds in and Lambo had already been electrocuted. You felt a lump growing in your throat as you clutched onto the sleeve of Sawada's jacket. Noticing your uneasiness, Yamamoto slid his hand into yours, giving you a reassuring squeeze. When Lambo had finally cried out in pain, you sighed out in relief. Your tension had been growing since before the match had even begun. There was no way you'd be able to stomach the whole thing.

When the opponent harshly kicked Lambo, you instinctively turned away. You forced yourself to open your eyes, rage filling you with each hit.

 _How could someone openly abuse a child? He's obviously much stronger. He doesn't even need to do any damage, just enough of a distraction to get the ring away from Lambo. He wholeheartedly deserves whatever karmic retribution comes his way._

With a puff of smoke you watched as the child disappeared and was replaced with a teenager. Before you could question the sudden change, the referees explained he was summoned from ten years into the future.

 _Mafia? Sure. Time travel? Okay I guess? I mean they allowed it to happen, so it has to be legit. I did just see it happen. As long as Lambo is safe am I really going to complain?_

You now watched as the teenage Lambo got attacked, only to mimic his younger self's actions and use the bazooka again. When a much older male replaced the teen and brought about a reversal, you finally felt some of the tension melting away. Just a bit more was all he needed. Unfortunately that was not what he got.

Child Lambo has returned, taking the brunt of the damage from the colliding attacks. He was no longer moving.

Gokudera, Sasagawa, and Yamamoto readied themselves to jump in, but Reborn intervened. You clenched your jaw, prepared to run in. Maybe you'll get lucky and not get electrocuted.

Yamamoto had released your hand earlier, but seeing you lean forward he grasped it once more, holding you back.

"Let go!" you protested. "You're all worried about your rings, so just let me do it."

You struggled to undo his grasp, feeling your eyes tear up as Lambo's opponent hovered over him. "If someone doesn't do something he's going to die."

You looked up at their uneasy expressions. You turned to look at Sawada, barely whispering out. "Do something, please."

"I'll protect him." he responded, running towards Lambo.

Everyone watched in amazement as the lightning rods toppled over and Sawada appeared from the steam.

"No matter how important they are said to be, the Vongola rings, the position for the next boss, I can't battle for such things. I don't want my friends to be hurt!"

 _Despite his touching show of camaraderie, Sawada was quickly pushed aside by the opponent boss himself, Xanxus._

He meaninglessly taunted them, enraging the group. You, however, had more important business to tend to. Noting that Yamamoto's hold on you loosened, you headed over to Lambo. Scooping him into your arms, you checked whether he was still breathing. Thankfully he was, but his physical injuries were extensive.

 _How could people be so sick…_

* * *

"I wonder, if it was okay for me to interfere in the match at that time…" commented Sawada as the group walked home.

"It was." you stated. "You stepped in, so Lambo is still alive."

"You did well." responded Reborn. "Vongola doesn't need a boss who abandons his men."

* * *

As the group split up, you continued walking on with Sawada and Reborn.

"Your best quality. Want to know what it is?"

"Huh?" he questioned, looking up at you.

"It's that you care about others. If you ever have any doubts about yourself it's not your empathy that makes you weak, it's your indecisiveness."

You stared at him blankly expecting any sort of response, but he meekly nodded. You didn't intend to make him feel guiltier than he already felt, but the day had taken its toll on you.

* * *

While you entered your house, your phone beeped, notifying you of a message. Opening it you noticed it was from Yamamoto asking you if it was possible to call you. You replied back with confirmation that it was okay. If he was calling, it must have been urgent enough especially with the current events taking place.

"Hello?" you answered.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you got home."

"I didn't think you needed to call for just that." you scoffed.

"Yeah, it's a bit more serious than that. After today I just think you shouldn't come to the battles anymore."

"I understand why you would say that, but if I were to stay at home I'd be more worried."

"Regardless, I think it's for the best if you stay behind."

"I'm really not in the mood to argue about this Yamamoto. I know you think you have to protect me from the world or something, but I'm not a child."

"You were crying today. When Lambo was hurt. You were trying to hold it back so I didn't want to say anything. It's a given that we're going to get injured in these fights and I don't want to see you cry every time one of us gets hurt."

"I'm tired, we'll talk later." you sighed, hanging up on him.

 _He's right. I talk big, but there's nothing I can do to help. I can't physically fight for them, I can't get information, and I can't even give them support at this point? Am I exhausted because of what I've witnessed or because I've finally realized how I'm just so powerless?_

* * *

I hope the chapter is enjoyable. Let me know if there's anything that seems odd, I'm updating at almost 4am because I wanted to get this chapter out (RIP proofreading).


	13. Chapter 13

This was the chapter I was trying to post about 2 weeks ago. I actually did have a good portion typed out, it was just the ending that needed a bit of work.

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Everything hurts_

"You look terrible, Onee-chan!" commented Chika from across the table. She stood up on the chair, reaching over towards your forehead. Chiaki looked up from his breakfast as Chika slammed her palm onto your face.

"It's sweet of you to show concern Chika, but could you please not do that?" you asked, removing her hand. "I just haven't gotten much sleep lately…"

"Is everything okay? You've been out late the past few nights." commented your mother.

"Yeah it's just a temporary after school thing." you mumbled out.

"If you're not feeling well you can take a day off. You shouldn't overexert yourself, it's important to know your limits." she advised.

You snorted at the irony of her comment before heading back to your bedroom.

* * *

You lay on your bed staring at the ceiling, trying to empty your head. If you didn't think about anything you would feel better. Not thinking about Lambo, last night, the next four nights. Not thinking about the rings, the Varia, the mafia. Just not thinking.

As you continued staring you felt you lids growing heavy, struggling to stay open. Immediately you harshly slapped your hands against your cheeks.

"I'm not falling asleep…" you muttered, shaking your head.

Pulling out your journal you began to write. No way to fall asleep if you were actually moving. Flipping to the last page you frowned at the writing that had been scrawled in the dark last night. You shook your head and flipped forward to the next page.

 _I…really….don't….know… what…I'm…doing….._

You sighed. "Just write out anything, it's not that hard."

 _Everything feels stuck. It's like something inside of me needs to get out, but it's not budging. Everything is twisted._

You clicked your tongue, throwing your notebook and pen aside. You grabbed the pillow behind you, pushed your face into it and screamed. Tossing the pillow aside, you grabbed your pen and resumed writing.

 _I am tired of watching them get into these ridiculous situations. I am tired of them actively living to die. I am tired of being helpless. I am tired of being tired._

* * *

 _It was dark. The whole school was in shambles. Everyone was bleeding. No matter how many times they stood up, they just kept getting knocked down. At some point I had just wished they would stay down, even just to avoid any more damage. It didn't make a difference because even when they had fallen, the other side would just stomp on their corpses. I was terrified. I wanted to run, get away somehow, but it didn't matter. It was all over anyway. They had killed everyone. While they had died, I had watched. I thought maybe I would be next, but I was so insignificant that being dead was no different from being left alive._

Your eyes shot open and you jumped up. Looking around you had realized you had fallen asleep. You were covered in cold sweat.

' _Of course it was the same nightmare.'_

You couldn't do this anymore. Looking at the clock you realized the next battle would soon be starting. Yamamoto had warned you to stay away, but you knew it would be the same whether you went or didn't. You'd still be worried and you'd still feel sickened.

* * *

Walking to the school, you ran into the group at the gate. Yamamoto's expression quickly hardened upon your arrival.

"I know what you're going to say." you started. "You told me that I shouldn't come anymore, but I am not done with this. You're all idiots!"

They stared at you questionably, but you merely continued. "You're all seriously a bunch of idiots. I am sick of it. I have no idea why you think it's okay to go around putting yourselves in danger, yet have the nerve to act like you're suddenly protecting everyone by doing this. Do you think I'd much rather have no explanations for why you all have a broken arm or leg? Or god forbid one of you actually ends up dead in the fight and the next time I see you it's as a bloody corpse!"

"Are you okay?" asked Sawada, confused as to what brought about your sudden outburst.

"No I'm not! You're all so stupid and I can't leave it alone because you need someone to constantly tell you that what you're doing is dumb. None of you have the slightest bit of common sense. You're eventually going to die without it! Yesterday you even sent a five year old out into a battlefield thinking it'd be okay. Who does that? In what situation do you think a child can hold his own against some freakish murderer?"

Sawada uncomfortably shifted. "Sending Lambo out there was my fault…"

You groaned interrupting what you knew would be a guilty apology or acceptance of blame. "No Sawada, do not give me any of that. As the one voice of reason here it's also my fault. I know I can't do anything to physically help, but the least I can do is remind you all to not be idiots."

Yamamoto spoke up. "I take it you're feeling much better than before then?"

You inhaled a deep breath. "It's an improvement I suppose, but if any of you look like you're ready to actively walk into your death, I will drag you back here and do it myself. Speaking of which where is Gokudera? He's the one who needs to have the most sense talked to him."

"Maybe he was stopped by Shamal?" suggested Reborn. "He wouldn't let his disciple enter a battle with no chance of winning."

"At least someone is looking out for him." you shrugged.

As you all headed into the building, Yamamoto slowed his pace to walk beside you. "You're feeling better, but if you ever need a shoulder to cry on…"

"Shut up." you lightly elbowed him, rolling your eyes at him.

* * *

A second before the clock struck 11, Gokudera made his appearance. You raised a brow, hearing the referee's explanation of this death match. As if the matches weren't brutal enough, they had to install a bomb to go off 15 minutes into the match that would actually kill the participants. Of course this was just when you were beginning to cope with the idea of fighting against murderers.

You grimaced, your stomach lurching at the thought of the bomb going off. Feeling someone take hold of your hand you knew it was Yamamoto attempting to calm you.

"Don't worry. We won't let anything happen to him, not after the last match." he whispered.

You meekly nodded, taking small breaths to recompose yourself. He's right. Sawada wouldn't let something happen to anyone else. However, the referees demolished that thought when they activated sensors to prevent interference. You tried to swallow the growing lump in your throat.

 _Wonderful._

* * *

 _The only way to describe this horrible situation. I am currently filled to the brim with complaints, beginning with that goddamn laughter._

 _I haven't the slightest idea as to how an assassin has a maniacal laugh that would most definitely reveal his location considering the needs of the job, but here it is. He lives with people who are out killing teenagers, yet they haven't killed the closest one in proximity? Unreal. His laugh is enough of a reason to get rid of him._

 _And then there's Gokudera coming out as if he was ready to model on the runway. He's always had a distinctive fashion sense which I couldn't have cared less about, but wearing basically nothing but bandages and a wide-open shirt? That's the easiest possible way to get brutally mutilated. Of course the boy who missed the common sense speech came out like this._

You watched in frustration as Gokudera played a game of cat and mouse with his opponent. The self-proclaimed genius put up a ruse that he was so skilled in reading wind currents that his knives were sure to hit the target every time. It didn't take a genius to know that with those levels of wind pressure he was obviously using a cheap trick to guide the knives towards Gokudera. The problem was what method he was using. Fortunately, Gokudera revealed the thread attached onto his shoulder that had been placed at the beginning of the battle.

Although he lost blood, he progressed through the match victory within his reach. However, his opponent lunged forward, clawing for the ring. Everyone shouted for Gokudera to drop the ring and return, but he was adamant.

 _Once again, why he felt the need to come in late and miss the speech I do not know. It's fate playing a cruel game. Thankfully Sawada's outburst had more of an effect than my outburst would have ever had on him. He returned in one piece. Soon after Hibari Kyoya arrived, challenging everyone on the premise for destroying his beautiful school._

You watched with a smirk as Hibari tripped the man who had fought Lambo. To your disappointment he left the man with just that, fervent to move to the next opponent. Yamamoto's opponent taunted Hibari while you eagerly awaited the brawl to begin, clicking your tongue when Yamamoto stepped in.

 _Who better to face against the mass murderers than someone who is just as sick as them? Last I recall he also went rushing into Mukuro's murder den out of his own volition. Following the commotion, Dino came in (late as always). He explained that Yamamoto's opponent, Squalo was his former schoolmate and was known for defeating other swordsmen. Also he was supposedly next in line for Varia leader and got passed up for Xanxus. Apparently it's such a mystery as to why he's so loyal for someone who got his promotion stolen. Maybe Xanxus is just abnormally strong and Squalo realized that trying to take the position wasn't worth his life? Is that really that odd?_

 _The bigger concern here should be Yamamoto's battle. He's not worried at all, although that is just like him…_

* * *

"What's this?!" screeched out Sawada at the sight of the battlefield. The room was flooded with water and broken debris. Large holes filled the ceiling, tides of water rushing through.

 _Another death match, what's new? Why does it seem like these arenas get more dangerous with each day? Two days ago it was electrocution, yesterday it was explosions, today it's drowning. What's next? Fighting on a 3-foot wide stadium 50 feet above ground?_

As everyone bid farewell and wished good luck to Yamamoto, you two stood facing one another. You nervously bit your lower lip.

"Don't be so anxious." he laughed, ruffling your hair. "I'll be back soon."

You glared up at him. "You better not die. If you die I will drag you back to life just to kill you again, got it?"

He smiled. "Got it."

* * *

You couldn't stop fidgeting. Your hands moved endlessly watching Yamamoto's battle against Squalo. The match was going well or so it seemed, but Squalo had little difficulty countering the attacks. The relaxed look on Yamamoto's face was unnerving. Here you were, worried out of your mind, while he remained calm even while profusely bleeding.

"Kobayashi?" you looked over to see Sawada's concerned expression towards you. "You don't look very good."

"He's bleeding out. I don't think anyone watching this would look good."

"Give me your hand." he replied holding out his own. You released your intertwined fingers and slowly outstretched your hand. He held on tightly, consolingly smiling back.

"Whenever you're nervous Yamamoto holds your hand. He's busy right now, so I thought this could make do."

"Well of course he's busy." you muttered. "Thanks."

Squalo showed no sign of stopping his barrage of attacks, deliberately blinding Yamamoto's right eye as well. The situation looked hopeless until Yamamoto's counterattack had finally hit him. Reborn then explained the basis behind Shigure Souen style and its constant evolution. Yamamoto also came off lucky as his spontaneously created attack landed a finishing blow on his opponent.

You sighed in relief when he attached the ring together. The battle was over. When he leaned over to pick Squalo up off the ground you mentally face palmed. Leave it to Yamamoto to save the person who had just attempted to kill him. However, Squalo's pride was too great to let himself be saved after defeat.

Ignoring his death, the referees proceeded to announce the following match.

* * *

"So you guys have no idea who this person is at all?" you questioned.

Everyone shrugged. You were all in the gymnasium, a surprisingly mundane arena. You had expected much worse, but took this as a blessing. You weren't expecting today's battle to be explicitly gruesome based off the setting. As Sawada awoke, the mist guardian entered.

"My name is Dokuro Chrome." she introduced herself.

The accusations flew wild over her identity, the result of walking in with Mukuro's former gang.

"Mukuro was a lot creepier." you bluntly stated. "Even when he was faking being a nice person he gave off this vibe."

Sawada agreed. "She's not Rokudo Mukuro. It's just a feeling but…."

The girl was obviously touched by Sawada's actions and reciprocated with a light peck to the cheek causing everyone to shriek out in surprise, including Sawada.

"Thought you had a thing for Sasagawa?" you teasingly questioned, side-eying his bright red face.

"Of course I do!" he responded flabbergasted. "It was just so sudden!"

* * *

As the girl headed towards the center of the gymnasium you were curious how she would fight. The other side's representative was a baby who resembled Reborn, but it completely eluded you as to how this child was a part of the murdering gang.

 _You'd think after time travel I would have stopped questioning things. Let's just say if someone had told me I inhaled some kind of hallucinatory drug at some point in the day it would have legitimized what I had seen._

"What the hell is happening to the floor?" you asked clinging onto Yamamoto's arm for your life.

"It's an illusion." explained Reborn, the floor slowly returning to normal.

You blinked rapidly trying to make sense of what had happened. Your eyes hadn't been playing tricks on you if everyone else had just undergone the same experience.

 _Illusions? At this point they could tell me humans are able to fly and I'd probably just go along with it._

The battle grew more intense when pillars of fire sprung from the floor. They were countered and the opponent overtook the girl. When he had destroyed her weapon she collapsed, her abdomen caving in. Meanwhile your nausea was building up and the throbbing in your head increased. The illusions combined with sleep depravity were taking its toll on you. You struggled to focus on the match, squinting into the mist that was slowly coating the gymnasium. Your vision blurred and your balance felt unsteady. A familiar low chuckle reverberated through the walls and then everything went dark.

* * *

Your eyes shot open and you jolted up.

"Kobayashi-san, how're you feeling?" asked Dino, sitting on a stool at the edge of the bed.

"Where am I?" you asked, observing the room.

"You fainted at last night's battle, so we brought you to our private clinic. Have you been feeling all right? Reborn said you might have fainted from oversensitivity from illusion exposure, but you've been knocked out for most of the day."

"I've just been having some difficulties sleeping. It's nothing really. What happened with yesterday's battle?"

"Tsuna's side won. Kyoya's results will be the same, so I suggest you rest up instead of going out to watch."

You nodded, slipping out of the bed and preparing to go home. Dino threw you a confused look. "I told you to rest up, where are you going?"

You reciprocated the look. "Home? If I've been out all day my parents are obviously worried."

"Actually Reborn already took care of that." he explained. "We called your house and told them you would be staying the night at a friend's house because the event took much longer than expected. Besides if you're not sleeping well at home, a change of environment is always a good idea. You're free to stay here for a while."

As reluctant as you were to agree with Dino, he was right. You hadn't gotten any decent rest since the beginning of these matches until you had fainted.

"Another day wouldn't hurt I suppose." you muttered.

Dino smiled. "Good. You just focus on getting better."

 _The hospital hadn't been as bad as I would have thought. The food was decent and people left me alone. It was relaxing and stress free, something I wouldn't have used to describe my environment of the past week._

* * *

The next day arrived and you already heard the news of what happened at the previous battle. A mental health day became pointless knowing they would all be forced to fight all over again.

As the sun began to set you decided it would be best to head out, but before that you wanted to check up on Lambo. You knew all the guardians were required to be present in this final match, but bringing in someone with such extensive injuries would be excessive. You hoped they would have the slightest bit of heart and leave him be, but of course that wasn't the case. When you slid open the door it was no surprise to see the referee cradling him in her arms.

"Put him down." you growled, seething with rage.

 _Did they think they were going to get away with putting him in this battle when he wasn't even conscience? He was still hooked up to an oxygen tank, how do they expect him to survive?_

"All guardians have been summoned to the sky ring battle. The rules dictate we bring him there."

You stomped up making more forceful threats. "No, put him down right now or I swear to god I will make you. There is no way you are putting this child through more hell!"

You reached out to retrieve Lambo, but the woman easily pushed you back. "Do not interfere."

You clicked you tongue, frustrated by how powerless you were. You were not going to let this woman do as she pleases. Glaring up at her, you charged forward trying to tackle her. She sidestepped the attack, once again warning you to back down. Relentlessly you made another attempt, which she expertly dodged. However you failed to realize the appearance of her partner who proceeded to strike you from behind. An electric shock struck your back and you keeled over.

"What should we do with her?" they discussed. "We need to bring the guardian to the field. Should we just leave her here? No, it would benefit Xanxus-sama if the other side had a handicap. She willingly interfered, so we should give her what she wants."

* * *

As you came to, you felt the wind gently blow against your skin. Your body felt numb and your mind was groggy. You vaguely remembered trying to interfere with the referees' plans, but not the aftermath. Looking around, you were definitely no longer in the hospital, but what appeared to be the school rooftop. You pushed your hand against the ground, trying to stand up. Finally on your feet, you moved forward only to feel a force tugging your left wrist back.

"Handcuffs? Why would –"

A barrage of sudden explosions interrupted your thoughts, snapping you into the realization of your current situation.

 _I'm going to die aren't I?_

* * *

Thank you so much to anyone who reviewed, favorited, or put the story on story alert! It's nice knowing that people are enjoying the story. Varia arc will most likely finish in 1-2 chapters and then it's time for the future arc. Also to answer some questions without giving away too much Kobayashi will eventually gain some combat skills, but I wouldn't say it's a particular focus. I always thought it was very weird how everyone in KHR is just automatically good at fighting, so having a civilian of all people suddenly showing up a bunch of trained mafia members is a bit much lol. And as of now the plan is to have the twins show up in the future arc in their TYL form. I'm honestly very excited to type out the future arc bc I have it all planned out. Anyways thank you or reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	14. Chapter 14

**I've been missing for a while. The school semester left me with no time to update, so expect maybe 3 more chapter updates before the month ends bc I want to keep updates at a minimum of a chapter a month.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _So much for being irrelevant. I forgot how the other side loved to play dirty. Of course they would take a hostage._

The explosions increased and the building shook with greater force while you frantically tried to slip off the handcuffs.

Still struggling, you felt your eyes tear up. The handcuffs weren't budging and the situation felt hopeless. The best you could do now was pray that no one would notice you. Even if the building was shaking there was little chance of their battle tearing down the infrastructure. The building's foundation couldn't have been that weak right?

Unfortunately, luck had never been on your side. A harsh laugh hit your ears and you looked up only to make direct eye contact with Xanxus.

"Looks like there's more trash lying around than I had thought."

While he readied his gun you clenched your teeth and shut your eyes.

 _If anything it would at least be over in one shot right?_

"Sawada, you better hurry up." you muttered.

Feeling nothing, you slowly opened your eyes to see Sawada kneeling in front of you. He grabbed the handcuffs' chain and melted it apart. You let out a sigh of relief as he immediately scooped you into his arms.

"Don't ask any questions. Once I jump off, find a safe place to hide."

"Jump off?" you asked, realizing what he meant when he dashed away, leaping off the roof.

 _Why is it that whenever Sawada and I are anywhere near a roof, I'm falling off of it?_

You clutched onto him, your heart racing. The two of you managed to safely land while dodging Xanxus' shots. He placed you down and hastily went back to the fight. You tried to push yourself to your feet, but couldn't find the strength to. How did he expect you to run to safety when you could barely stand after the act he just pulled?

* * *

"This is so dehumanizing." you murmured, now attempting to crawl to safety. "No one should see me if I'm this close to the ground though."

Your knees were most definitely skinned and your palms were covered in dirt. Even as you crawled further away you could still hear the explosions and screaming. The place was a warzone and you knew if you were caught it would be the end.

 _I'm such an idiot. All this time I thought they were idiots for dragging me into messes, but I'm the biggest idiot here for willingly putting myself in this situation._

As you made your way to the corner, you spotted someone's leg. You automatically pushed your back into the wall and peeked around.

"Kobayashi?"

Your hand flew to your chest and your body relaxed. "I have never been so glad to see you two."

Gokudera and Yamamoto stared at you with puzzled looks. You put a hand up to halt any further questioning, hurriedly explaining how you meant to stop the referees from taking Lambo and then found yourself here.

Although the two were shocked, it was dire they reach Chrome before the 30 minute time limit for the poison had passed. They instructed you on how to get to Sasagawa and Lambo.

* * *

"You sure destroying the gym is the best idea?" you questioned the older male.

He merely shrugged and proceeded to throw out his fist. Yamamoto and Gokudera trudged through the debris, but there was no sign of their opponents.

 _Just as we arrived onto the scene, Xanxus had gotten the Vongola ring and was of course manically laughing. It was cut short when he started coughing up blood. Tuberculosis? Nope apparently he had no blood relation to Vongola, which made the rings reject him. Explains his strange obsession with the Vongola at least. Daddy issues are always the cause of our problems aren't they?_

You rolled your eyes, watching Xanxus continue with his dramatic outburst.

 _If he couldn't have been Vongola boss why hadn't anyone stepped in and taken the ring away from him? He obviously couldn't move anymore. How did he even still have the energy to give a speech? To top it off they finally declared that they would demolish anyone who stands in their way._ _As if we weren't expecting that. Lanchia from the Mukuro crew then conveniently showed up and got rid of the minor nuisances, leaving only the main Varia members. They easily surrendered, leaving Sawada and company as the winners._

* * *

 _It might have been too soon to celebrate, but after the past week, I think we all needed a breather. Everything had finally fallen into place. We could live in peace for a while longer, but honestly how much longer? Even if they all get stronger, sticking around with them only puts me in danger, not to mention all the injuries they get from trying to protect me. Hanging out with them really has made me an idiot. Who charges into fights when they can't fight? An idiot. And that's exactly what I am not. Next time I'll be more than ready._

"Hello Michiko-chan." greeted Nana, opening the door for you. "Tsu-kun's right upstairs."

You bowed and thanked her, heading up to Sawada's room. Although you had put in the effort to deliver his homework everyday during the ring battles, he hadn't bothered doing any of it, which was what prompted your visit. You had agreed to help him with his studies after all.

"Hey Sawada." you entered the room, only to see him in a tug of war with Lambo over a giant purple bazooka. You clicked your tongue. "Really Sawada? The boy just got out of the hospital. Stop fighting with him."

"I just need Lambo to use the 10-year bazooka so I can ask him a question." he explained, still pulling on the bazooka.

You rolled your eyes and marched over to loosen Sawada's grip only to get caught in the crossfire of Lambo hitting the trigger. When you opened your eyes everything was dark. Confused, you tried to move around only to kick off the top of whatever box you were in. You sat up, looking around only to see trees and more trees, giving you no indication of your location. Examining the "box" you sat in, you realized it was none other than a coffin, causing your expression to darken.

 _So I don't even make it to 24, great. Why is there no record of when I died written anywhere near this thing though? If I didn't make it ten years later, it'd still be nice to know how far I did make it._

You noted the fresh tiny blue flowers placed next to the coffin. The water in the jar was still clear, so whoever had left them was a recent visitor. It was nice to know someone cared enough to visit your decaying body.

 _At least the coffin wasn't buried ten feet under the ground otherwise I'd be dead in both the past and the present._

Shuffling out of the coffin, you wondered where Sawada had fallen to. You wandered through the forest slowly, trying to listen out for voices. Your ears perked up as you heard a familiar voice. Pushing through the shrubbery, you stumbled upon Sawada and an older Gokudera.

"Ah Kobayashi-san, you made it safely." said Sawada, who you realized was also sitting in a coffin.

"You could say that." you shrugged.

Gokudera whipped his head around, a vicious scowl on his face. "You! "

He rushed forward, grabbing you by the collar. "A traitor shouldn't be anywhere near the Tenth."

"Let go of me Gokudera!" you flailed your legs, struggling to remove yourself from his grip.

"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be like this!" he shouted, before a puff of smoke engulfed him.

You fell to the ground, coughing while fanning the smoke away. When it cleared you saw Gokudera had switched places with his past self.

"Huh? It's the normal Tenth! But I thought I went ten years into the future?" he questioned.

After explaining to Gokudera that this was indeed the future, he fell into a depression realizing Sawada had been sitting in a coffin. Shortly following, was an outburst of rage at his future self.

"If anyone cares I found my body in a coffin too. For all we know, most of us could have died ten years later." you suggested.

"That's not very comforting…" replied Sawada.

You shrugged your shoulders. "It is what it is. Now that we know, there should be some way to stop it from happening."

Sawada hesitated. "Gokudera-kun from the future actually did tell me one way." he pulled out the photo Gokudera handed him and explained the method.

"Then once we go back to the past we just need to kill the person in the photograph." spoke Gokudera with a determined look on his face.

"No, no, no! We can't kill people!" protested Sawada. "What we need to do when we get back is –"

Sawada halted midsentence, noticing it had already been more than five minutes since they were teleported into the future.

"Why haven't we returned to the past yet? Don't tell me we're stuck!" he panicked.

You sighed, taking a seat against a nearby tree. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 _Finding out that I'm dead in the future isn't the worst news of the day is not a sentence I ever thought I would write. I'm stuck in the future with Sawada, who panics about every little thing and Gokudera, who doesn't think anything through. Not to mention we're in some strange forest in the middle of nowhere. Forget dying ten years later, I'm going to end up dead in a matter of hours if we don't find some way out soon._

"Hello." an unknown person greeted the three of you.

You lifted your head up, only to see them display a weapon and suddenly start attacking.

Sawada ran towards you, grabbing your arm. "Kobayashi, hide over here." he instructed, pushing you behind a tree.

"Yeah because a tree is definitely going to keep me safe." you scoffed, peeking your head out to see the fight.

 _As always I was stuck watching the fight, safely hiding away in some corner while they were getting their asses handed back to them. To think Sawada just came back from beating Xanxus only to lose to a random person from the future._

You watched as the opponent had Sawada on the ground and readied to take a final shot. You fumbled through your bag, grateful to have taken it with you when Sawada grabbed you. Pulling out the object you were looking for, you ran towards the woman. Knowing you wouldn't be fast enough you threw your bag at her. She quickly pushed it aside and you lunged forward. She quickly caught your fist.

"Did you really think that your punch would do any damage?" she asked.

"No." you responded, pushing forward your other hand. She quickly grabbed your hand, which was just inches away from her waist.

She inspected the item in your hand with an amused look. "A taser? Maybe if you were quicker this would've worked out.".

You glared up at her. She released your hands and removed her goggles. "I'll waive killing you all. My name is Lal Mirch."

* * *

Ignoring all the questions, Lal instructed the group to follow her to the secret base. She eventually revealed Reborn doesn't exist in the future, stirring up a storm of complaints from Gokudera. When Lal announced that you would be camping out for the night, his complaints only worsened.

"She seriously pisses me off! We're just following her around and she probably doesn't have any leads. We'll just have to tolerate her until we reach the base."

"There's nothing we can do about this, so can we just focus on finding food?" you replied, distributing the tasks.

* * *

Both of you shuffled through the woods, examining the plants. The tasks were split so that Sawada and you would look for food while Gokudera went fishing. Breaking the silence, Sawada decided to start a conversation.

"You know you really shouldn't jump into a fight like that." he chastised, referring to your earlier actions. "After you got yourself stuck in the ring battles I thought you would've known better."

"What do you expect me to do when someone has a gun to your head? Just watch? Besides why do think I had a weapon this time?" you retorted.

Sawada put up his hands defensively. "I just meant that you're already dead in the future, so shouldn't you be more careful?"

"May I just remind you that you're also dead? Also if there's any way I can do anything, I'm not going to just sit around."

Sawada dropped the topic, instead trying to scavenge for food. He yelped as his foot got caught onto a vine and tripped over, swallowing a strange food.

"Shouldn't you be more careful?" you sarcastically asked, mocking his previous statement.

 _He has the nerve to worry about me when he's way worse off. For all we know he probably died because of his clumsiness._

"I feel kind of dizzy." said Sawada, trying to steady himself. He stood up, wobbling further through the forest, while you shouted after him.

He eventually came to a stop when he saw Gokudera, only to head butt the boy and have them both fall into the lake. You put a hand to your head when they turned around and realized Lal had been taking a bath.

"Idiots." you muttered under your breath.

* * *

"So what are they going to do once they get the Vongola Rings?" you asked.

Lal had given the group a brief explanation of the future's condition, which happened to be even bleaker than it appeared.

 _Turns out Sawada and I aren't the only dead ones. Apparently loads of people from Vongola have gone missing because of this Byakuran fellow. He's going after the Vongola Rings, but I thought the ring debacle had been settled 10 years ago. If you don't have the blood of the Vongola you can't even use them, so what's the point?_

As Lal continued her explanation, she pointed out the balloon in the sky. Her eyes widened and she quickly put out the fire, ordering you all to move. The group maneuvered through the forest, attempting to avoid the Gola Mosca on patrol. Unfortunately, the robot had picked up the signal of the ring that Sawada had gotten from Lanchia. You all panicked as the Mosca prepared to strike, when a sudden hit had stopped it in its place.

Future Yamamoto stepped out from behind commenting on how surprised he was to see the three of you when he had been assigned to pick up Lal. Sawada explained that the three of you had come from the past using the 10 year bazooka.

"No wonder. You two look well." he replied, glancing towards you and Sawada.

He led the groups through the forest, chatting lightheartedly about the past ten years. Aside from his appearance, Yamamoto hadn't changed much in the past ten years.

"You've been seriously awesome these past ten years, Tsuna!" he smiled, putting an arm on Sawada's head. "Gokudera and Michiko too." he added, looking back at you two.

'Michiko?' you thought raising a brow. Since when had Yamamoto been on a first name basis with you?

* * *

Minutes later, the group had made their way to the underground base. There, you had learned a number of shocking things.

 _We're only 9 years and 10 months in the future and we've been in Namimori this whole time. When did Namimori have this many trees? And if this is only 9 years and 10 months what happens 2 months from now? Ugh what is this whole situation? What exactly are we expected to do?_

You frowned as Reborn continued to explain the state of the future. The topic shifted to the coffin Sawada was found in causing Gokudera to snap. He stepped forward and swung his right fist towards Yamamoto, making contact with his jaw. You spotted the blood on his lip and your eyes widened.

"What have you done?! Why is the Tenth like that?!" he shouted, demanding answers.

Yamamoto looked at him remorsefully. "I'm sorry."

Gokudera continued shouting. You were honestly sick of his voice with all the complaining you had to put up today.

"AGH!" you screamed in frustration causing everyone to look over at you.

You marched over to Gokudera and placed a hand on your hip. "You have seriously been such a pain today. You almost strangled me, you've been whining nonstop, and now you're going around punching people? You can't blame Yamamoto for Sawada dying, you were in the future too!"

Before Gokudera could retort, Reborn interceded. "Stop it, Gokudera. Kobayashi is right, you were in the same position as Yamamoto."

He muttered out a curse, stepping down. You turned to Yamamoto and pulled out a tissue from your pocket for his bloody lip.

"Thanks Michiko."

You furrowed your brows. There it was again. Michiko. "Why do you keep calling me Michiko, Yamamoto?" you blurted out.

"Ah well, it must be out of habit." he replied.

You stared back confused. "Habit means you've been doing it long enough that it comes to you naturally. When have we ever been on such close terms?"

You could see him hesitating with his answer, finally responding "Well married couples are pretty close wouldn't you say?"

"E-excuse me?" you sputtered out.

"He's saying that in the future you two are married, you idiot." you heard Reborn call out from the sofa.

 _The future really is messed up._

* * *

 **A part of me really wanted to write in a relationship with Yamamoto and there's no better place to do it in the messed up future that eventually doesn't happen. I think I have most of the future arc planned out, but some things could change up. Anyways, h** **ope everyone enjoys the chapter! Let me know you think.**


	15. Chapter 15

**The chapter ended up being longer than I expected, so hopefully that makes up for the delay in update. School started again, so expect sporadic updating. I'm really trying to update as much as I can.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _I'm in absolute shock. I close my eyes and keep hoping maybe it's all just a dream, but I know it's not. I can't believe I'm married to Yamamoto in the future. Yamamoto Takeshi. Of all the people in the world, I married him? How did this even happen?_

You lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. You put your hands over your eyes, letting out a groan. After hearing the news from your future husband, everything felt surreal. Reborn continued on to tell Sawada that the guardians needed to be gathered. To top it off Yamamoto informed everyone that most of the Vongola's allies had been eliminated, including a number of family members.

"What happened to my family?" you asked.

"Chika and Chiaki are with Bianchi and Fuuta gathering more information on the Millefiore, but there hasn't been any contact with your parents." he solemnly replied.

Afterwards the three of you were shown to your rooms. You had no idea how they thought any of you would sleep after hearing all of this. Unable to sleep, you rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.

You entered the room to see Yamamoto sitting, staring down at the table. His ears perked at the sound of the door opening and his eyes met yours.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, giving you a lackluster smile.

"Yeah, it's all a lot to take in." you responded, taking a seat across from him.

He nodded. "You always did have trouble sleeping when things were stressful. Even if you have nightmares, it's better to get some sleep than no sleep."

"Well you seem to know a lot about my sleeping habits." you commented. "I know it's strange to ask, but it still doesn't seem plausible. Are we actually married? I mean how did that happen?"

He chuckled, pulling out a photo from his suit pocket. "Here's a photo from our wedding day. I always keep it with me."

He handed the photo over to you. "We started dating in high school and got married after you finished college. Education was important to you, so you told me to not even think about proposing before graduation day."

You inspected the photo. A slightly older version of yourself donned a wedding dress and beamed at the camera. Standing next to you was Yamamoto dressed in a black suit with his arm wrapped around your waist. In your hand was a bouquet of familiar blue flowers coupled with white roses.

"Those blue flowers." you tilted the picture towards him and pointed. "They're the same ones that were in front of my coffin."

 _Looks like I found my anonymous visitor._

"Forget me not. That's the name of the flower." he answered. "I try my best to visit you and replace them as often as I can."

You stared at the tiny blue flowers, perturbed. "Why did I pick these for the wedding bouquet? Aren't red roses more traditional?"

"The flowers stand for a connection that lasts for a lifetime, a true and undying love."

Yamamoto smiled at you, but the sadness in his eyes was evident.

"How did I die?"

He stared at back at you, slightly taken aback by the question. He placed a hand on your head and tousled your hair, mustering up a smile.

"I think you should go to sleep for now. Like you said it's a lot to take in. I don't want to overwhelm you."

He removed his hand from your head and walked you back to your room.

* * *

The next morning, everyone had gathered in the conference room, ready to discuss the day's plan. Gathering the guardians was the ultimate goal, so finding the strongest one, Hibari Kyoya, was today's task. Yamamoto would accompany Sawada and Gokudera in the search. Despite your protests, there was a unanimous decision that you would not go along with them.

"You're already carrying around deadweight anyways." you muttered, gesturing towards Sawada and Gokudera. "It's not like I'll get in the way."

Yamamoto stood in front of you, removing a chain from around his neck. He lifted your hand and placed it in your palm.

"What is this for?" you asked. It was a chain with two rings attached to it. One was a simple silver band and the other was a much more ornate diamond ring.

"I think it's best left in the hands of its owner."

"No way." you rejected, realizing what they were. "This is what you gave to future me, I don't want it."

"Then I'll be sure to take it back from you when we return." he stated, patting your head before heading out.

* * *

You and Reborn waited for the others to return. You fiddled with the rings; uncertain why Yamamoto thought it would be a good idea to give them to you.

 _I'm at a completely different point in life than the future me he married. There's no point in giving me his deceased wife's belongings. In fact it's kind of creepy. You don't re-gift dead people's stuff, especially something as important as a wedding ring. He obviously treasured it seeing as he wore it around his neck, but then why give it to me? Don't tell me I'm a substitute for the dead me. What an uncomfortable paradox. He did say he would take it back though._

"Reborn, is there any way for me to learn how to fight well enough to not get in the way?" you asked.

"With the limited time we have and the level of danger, it would be better if you left it to Tsuna and the others."

You leaned back into the chair and pulled your knees to your chest. "So once again the only thing I can do is sit back and support them." you muttered.

 _Great_

* * *

The group had arrived with Gokudera carrying Sawada on his back, accompanied by Sasagawa, Miura, Yamamoto, I-Pin, and Lambo who had somehow been transported from the past.

"What happened?" you asked, rushing over. "How did they get here?"

"We ran into opponents and the Tenth got injured." responded Gokudera.

Reborn gave you three directions to the infirmary, while the rest of the group remained with him. You assumed he would be filling them in on what was happening.

While Gokudera placed Sawada on the bed, you rummaged through the cabinet for a first aid kit and began treating his wounds. You finished wrapping the bandage around his chest and gathered everything into the kit. As you placed it back into the cabinet, you heard Sawada pant and lurch forward, shouting out.

Gokudera calmed him down, explaining they had made it back to the hideout. Sawada panicked, recalling Sasagawa had come from the past. Gokudera revealed it was not just Sasagawa, but everyone at the scene had come to the future.

 _Miura rushed into the room crying and soon everyone was there. Sawada looked ready to explode. This was the first time I can remember that he lashed out at Reborn. The tension in the room was suffocating. Of course Reborn then decided to exclude me from their private talk, so I was stuck with the Miura and Sasagawa. Turns out Reborn wanted them to help with cooking and babysitting. If you can't fight I guess you're automatically left to do housework._

* * *

Knowing that you would be no help in the kitchen, you decided to explore the base. There must have been something worth occupying your time considering how large the facility is. Working your way through the building, you had finally found a room you knew you would be able to enjoy, the library.

 _If they weren't going to let me fight, I could at least try to research and get a better idea of our current predicament. It's a mafia library; they have to have some kind of useful information somewhere._

You spent hours in the library, flipping through several books only to find basically nothing. There were barely any documents about the Millefiore, aside from them being a coalition of two families, the Giglio Nero and the Gesso. There wasn't much to say about the Gesso with their relatively short history, while the Giglio Nero was almost as distinguished as the Vongola. Then there were the few documents you had found on flames and box weapons, which only gave you a short and vague history.

 _Three guys decided to make magical weapons and sell them for money and then they died or went missing. Did they really have to waste paper to write that little? At least they outlined the information on flames with a decent amount of detail._

You decided to temporarily halt your research and return after dinner. Once you finished eating, you walked to the library to resume your task.

 _There may not be much information on the Millefiore or Gesso, but the Giglio Nero has a long history. It can't hurt to learn more about half of the enemy._

With each page turning you could feel yourself growing sleepy. You brought your hand up to cover a yawn, checking the wall clock for the time. You had gotten through about a quarter of the book, yet somehow it was almost 1am. Shuffling over to the bookshelf, you pushed the book back into the empty slot and headed back to the bedroom.

Now that Sasagawa, Miura, and I-Pin were here, the four of you shared the room. You climbed up the ladder to the top bunk. As you pulled out the covers, you noticed the person on the opposite bunk, sitting upright.

"Sasagawa?" you whispered, squinting to get a better look. "Why are you still up? Are you all right?"

She flinched at the sound of your voice. "Yeah, I was just about to go to sleep…"

She lay down and turned her back to you. You followed suit, trying to doze off.

"It doesn't feel like it right now, but everything will be okay. So try not to worry."

Sasagawa hummed in reply and you hoped that you had somehow managed to comfort her even if just a bit.

* * *

The next morning, a frantic Miura woke you up. "Mi-chan! Mi-chan!" she cried out, trying to shove you awake.

You groaned, peeking your head out from the covers. "What is it Miura?"

"Kyoko-chan ran away!" she said, pushing the note into your face. "She left a note and said she'd come back soon, but what are we going to do? It's not safe!"

"Oh god." your eyes widened while reading the note.

 _Sasagawa was so worried about her brother that she just had to make sure he was okay. Did she forget that the reason for her being worried was because it's dangerous outside? I would assume Sasagawa-senpai from the future would be able to defend himself._

"We have to tell everyone else right now. We don't know how long she's been outside, so let's just hope she's safe."

Miura nodded, rushing to the conference room. You threw off the covers and proceeded with your morning routine. As you entered the conference room, everyone was rushing out. They quickly said their goodbyes, heading straight for the exit.

"Nice to see you too." you muttered.

 _They better not come back half dead._

"Hey Miura, let's go." you called out, gesturing to the door. "I'll help out with the housework until Sasagawa comes back. It's probably too much work for just one person."

She nodded, following you out of the room and into the kitchen. You might as well do what you could.

* * *

You sprinted through the hallways upon hearing the news of their return. Of course Gokudera and Yamamoto had managed to get heavily injured.

 _It would actually kill them to stay safe wouldn't it?_

You burst into the infirmary expecting the worst. Gokudera was bloody and covered in bandages while Sawada sat by his side. You could only imagine the extent of Yamamoto's injuries. You felt sick to your stomach.

You stood in silence, until the news of Bianchi and Fuuta's arrival was announced. You recalled the information Yamamoto had relayed to the group earlier. If Bianchi and Fuuta were returning Chika and Chiaki should have also been with them.

As Bianchi and Fuuta entered the room, you held your breath. You were anxious to see your siblings ten years later. They had both been innocent and warm-hearted seven year olds the last time you had seen them, yet somehow they had been dragged into the mafia. They would only be 17, but in this catastrophic timeline they would've endured so much more. If there was anything you didn't want for them, it was this type of life. Obviously the future you hadn't done a very good job at protecting your siblings though.

Chika and Chiaki followed behind Bianchi and Fuuta. Chika had lost her the youthful chubbiness in her face, her features more sharpened and defined. Her hair had remained a bit below shoulder length, but was no longer straight rather holding a slight wave. The biggest difference you noted was her growth spurt. Little Chika was now much taller than you, appearing to be Bianchi's height. Behind her stood Chiaki, who towered over her. Similar to his sister, he looked much more mature, but there was still a softness in his expression whereas Chika looked distant. You nervously bit your lip, waiting for either of them to react to your presence.

Chika was the first to notice you. Her eyes scanned the room, stopping on you. Her gaze was cold as her eyes narrowed. She uncrossed her arms, approaching you. You opened your mouth to speak, only to be met with a fist to your jaw. You toppled over, seething in pain. She made a move to come closer to you, but was held back by Chiaki who immediately rushed over.

"Chika!" he hissed out.

The left side of your face was completely numb. You placed a hand onto your cheek, trying to gauge the intensity of the swelling. This would definitely take a while to heal. Sawada kneeled down next to you, attempting to check if you were all right.

You grit your teeth and stood up. "What the hell is your problem?"

"You are!" she shouted back, struggling to get out of Chiaki's arms.

You glared at her, lunging forward. Sawada quickly wrapped his good arm around your waist to hold you back.

"Don't hold me back. She thinks because it's been ten years she can just punch her older sister in the face? If she wants to fight, she'll get a fight." you glared down at him, your teeth still clenched.

"Kobayashi-san, now isn't the time to be fighting." he pleaded.

You knew Sawada had a point, but that didn't do anything to calm your anger. He continued to look at you with worried eyes, eventually causing you to back down.

"Fine." you grumbled, pushing his arm off of your waist.

"You two need to take your problem outside." stated Reborn. "The infirmary is a place for people to rest."

Chika scoffed, breaking out of Chiaki's grasp. She stormed out of the room while Chiaki put a hand to his head and sighed. He bowed to everyone, apologizing for Chika's outburst and then followed her out.

You also exited, trailing behind him. Both of you turned the corner to see Chika huddled on the floor, back against the wall. Tears were streaming down her face and her lips were pursed. Upon noticing you two, she wiped her tears and tried to muster a scowl. You stared down at her and sighed.

Squatting down in front of her, you put a hand to her cheek. "I'm the one who got punched, so why are you crying? If anyone should be crying here, it should be me." you joked.

Her lip quivered and she burst into tears once again. You pulled her into your arms, and softly pat her back.

"It's okay Chika." you comforted.

* * *

After Chika had calmed down, the three of you began to talk. You sat between the two, Chika on your right and Chiaki on your left.

"I'm sorry onee-chan." started Chika. "Or at least I know I should be, but at the same time I'm kind of not. A part of me still feels this was deserved."

"Exactly how bad am I in the future?" you asked. "Yamamoto didn't make me sound that horrible."

"You talked to Take-nii?" she asked, eyes wide. "What did he tell you?"

"Not much. Apparently we're married? He showed me a picture of the wedding and he gave me this." you replied, pulling out the ring.

Chika's expression darkened. "So he didn't tell you anything about what happened? Of course Take-nii still tries to protect you." she laughed sardonically. "Are you curious about it onee-chan? What you do nine years later?"

Chiaki wore a hesitant expression. "Chika, remember this onee-chan is different from that onee-chan. You can't blame her for the things she hasn't done."

Chika scoffed. "You mean the things she hasn't done yet. How about it onee-chan? Want to hear about how you ran away and abandoned us? How we thought you'd come back, but when you did you were already dead? Or how about how you joined the Millefiore right after leaving us?"

"Chika!" shouted Chiaki. "Stop it!"

"You know I'm right! Onee-chan left us. After Take-nii's dad died, onee-chan didn't want the same to happen to mom and dad, so she cut off all contact from them and gave them new identities. After that I thought it would be fine because at least we still had onee-chan, but then she left us all behind; you, me and even Take-nii who was always there for her. We all thought even if she left, she'd be back, or she went into hiding for safety and once everything was normal she'd come home. Instead she goes and helps the enemy. She betrayed us!"

Chika uncontrollably sobbed, still continuing her tirade, but this time turning to look at you. "That's not even the worst part. Do you know how long Take-nii waited for you? Didn't you even feel the slightest bit of pity for him? Even after Chiaki and I gave up, he still had faith in you. He thought for sure you'd come back and everything would be all right, but you died. Most of the Vongola didn't even want to give you a funeral, but Tsuna-nii insisted. I still don't understand onee-chan, why would you do that?"

You bit the inside of your cheek, searching for any words.

"Of course you don't have an answer." she replied. "How would you be able to know what you were thinking nine years later."

With that she got up and walked away, leaving you and Chiaki in the corridor.

"Do you feel the same way Chiaki?" you asked.

He shrugged. "After you died all I felt was regret. I couldn't hate the sister who did nothing other than look out for me. It was a completely different story before you died though. I was angry, similar to how Chika is right now. Did I hate you for leaving us or did I hate us for not being able to stop you? She's still conflicted because she never got to resolve her feelings towards you. Now that you're here from the past I guess she sees the younger you as a substitute. I'll try talking to her."

You nodded, as he stood up and headed to where you presumed Chika was. You sat alone in the hall, staring at the ground. Gokudera calling you a traitor had made sense now. You deserted your family and went to help the people bent on destroying them.

"Why am I such garbage?" you muttered.

"Kobayashi-san?"

Sawada anxiously peeked his head around the corner, with an ice pack in his hand.

"I thought you could use it for the swelling."

You accepted it, placing it against your cheek. The cold stung, reminding you of what Chika had said. A punch to the face was the very least of what you deserved.

"Are you okay?" asked Sawada, who had seated himself next to you.

You felt a tear roll down your cheek. "No, I'm not. I'm a horrible person."

You explained everything the future you had done, while Sawada solemnly nodded along. "You know I've never thought I was the nicest person out there, but I thought I still had some morality. It's no surprise Chika hates me after all I've done."

"Do really think you could have ever done those things?" he asked.

You shook your head. "Of course not, but it's been nine years. Who knows how much I've changed. This whole future is a mess."

"It'll be okay." he reassured you, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Once we gather the guardians, we'll find a way back and make sure this future never happens."

"I still have to find some way to fix this." you sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Just keep trying to talk to her." he advised. "It's really strange though, that you would run away considering how you're always jumping headfirst into everything."

You squinted your eyes at him. Was he chastising your reckless behavior right now? "Yeah of course it's weird, but it's not like there's some kind of record of what happened."

You paused, realizing what you had just said. The diaries. There was no way you hadn't written in them over the past few years, but where would they be? If there was some kind of explanation inside then did no one read them or did no one know where they existed? It was worth a shot.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Sawada, interrupting you from your thoughts.

"I think I know what I need to do." you smiled. "Thanks Sawada."

You patted him on the shoulder, before going off to search for Chiaki. Walking through the halls, you peered into different rooms hoping you'd come across him. Eventually you found him seated in the dining hall drinking a cup of coffee.

"Chiaki, I need to ask you something."

"Sure onee-chan. What do you need?"

"Do you have a box of my belongings before I died anywhere in the base?"

He tilted his head, slightly confused. "There were some things, but it would help if you were a bit more specific."

"A notebook or a journal. Something of that sort."

Chiaki's eye lit up in realization and his mouth formed into an o. He gestured for you to follow behind him, leading you through the halls. When he entered the library you attempted to ask him something, but he held up a finger. The two of you treaded through a number of shelves, finally stopping in front of a cabinet. He kneeled down and pulled open the doors, revealing stacks of identical journals.

 _At least I've been keeping up with my daily journals._

"They all have a lock on them though." he said, pulling one out to show you. "You never left us with the key and Take-nii didn't want to break them open to protect your privacy."

You grabbed the book from Chiaki and inspected the lock. "It looks like a pretty basic lock. Could you do me a favor and open them all?"

"Sure, but what are you planning on doing after reading all of this?" he questioned.

"Chika said that there's no way I could possibly know what I was thinking these past few years, so I'm doing just that. I want to know everything that made me end up like this."

 _Let's just hope I get some answers out of it._

* * *

 **Next chapter will have a lot of flashbacks of what happened in the past few years so be ready for daily life stuff.**

 **For everyone who is super confused about Yamamoto/Kobayashi in this future, just remember the end game is Tsuna/Kobayashi. The next chapter will explain everything about how the Yamamoto/Kobayashi couple came to be. Let me just say that if not for the circumstances then they probably wouldn't have happened.**

 **As for how Kobayashi looks uhh I guess I went for the 2nd pov bc I would be able to avoid descriptions lol. Let your imagination run free anon, it was already sweet enough of you to want to attempt fanart.**

 **Thank you for reading and for all the reviews! I appreciate all the commentary.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't want to jinx myself by saying that I'm finally decent with updates, but my track record is looking pretty good rn. Most of the chapter is in italics to show it's what's written in the diary, but it's not written in the usual first person diary format. I wanted to make sure everyone could differentiate that it was a flashback while also being able to show that Kobayashi is making real time commentary on what's being read.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Today was an average day._

You groaned, having read countless pages starting with those words. In this timeline, you had gotten what you wanted. After the Varia battles, you all went back to the peaceful days. News had spread of Sawada defeating Xanxus and as a result he became someone to fear. There were of course the foolish few who thought Xanxus had lost his touch losing to a "powerless" child and attempted to ambush him. They were easily disposed of. Aside from the occasional brawl, most days had been rather mundane.

The diary entries for the rest of your second year were monotonous. Your days consisted of studying or helping Sawada with homework, with an occasional outing sprinkled in. You hadn't realized just how dull your life was until it had been put onto paper.

You flipped through the pages, checking how much more remained. "Please tell me this gets interesting at some point."

Skimming through the pages, you noticed how little had changed going into your third year. During summer you helped Sawada and Yamamoto with their homework once again.

" _Seriously?" you asked looking at the piles on worksheets on the table._

 _Sawada nervously chuckled and Yamamoto scratched the back of his head. You stared deadpan at the both of them._

" _I've been helping you two study for the whole year. How do you still have to take remedial classes?"_

" _Well I haven't been doing my homework because of baseball practice." explained Yamamoto._

" _I've been doing a bit better, but my average is still about a 50."said Sawada._

 _You narrowed your eyes at both of them. Picking up a handful of the worksheets you rolled them up and repeatedly smacked the tops of their heads._

" _My precious summer break! Why do you two have heads if you don't use them? The only thing your heads are good for is hitting!"_

" _Don't hit the Tenth!" shouted Gokudera from the opposite side of the room, leaping over to stop you._

 _You paused, turning around and waving the papers in his direction. "And why were you invited? You never even help them with any of the work!"_

 _You plopped back into your seat, dropping your head onto the table. Is this what every summer would look like?_

* * *

Then in the fall the athletic festival came around once again.

 _Thankfully Sasagawa senpai had graduated in the spring and was no longer here to rally everyone up. A number of students in the year were studying for admissions exams, so all their energy was directed into the books leading to a rather dull event._

* * *

Followed by winter, which meant final exams and Valentines Day.

" _Mi-chan, you've never given anyone Valentines chocolate before?" gasped Miura._

 _You shook your head. "Seemed like a waste of time."_

 _You, Miura, and Sasagawa were gathered in Miura's kitchen the day before Valentine's Day preparing chocolate. Cooking wasn't your strong point, so you liked to avoid it whenever possible. However, you figured it was about time to branch out of your comfort zone and learn some new skills._

" _Ooh, so who made you change your mind?" smirked Miura, playfully elbowing you. "There has to be someone you're giving chocolate to right?"_

 _You playfully shoved her back, rolling your eyes. "The only boy getting chocolate from me this year is Chiaki."_

" _Ehhh, you're not even giving chocolate to Tsuna-kun, Yamamoto-kun, and Gokudera-kun?" she exclaimed._

 _You shrugged. The boys had tried your concoctions from home economics for the past two years and it had always been an interesting sight. They couldn't exactly complain when you were giving them free food, but the hesitance on their faces before taking a bite was very telling. It's not as if your food was inedible, it just wasn't anything spectacular. It didn't help that the presentation was always on the sloppier side._

" _I mean Gokudera and Yamamoto get chocolate from tons of girls, so I doubt they need mine. That does leave Sawada though." you hummed in thought. "I just don't want to end up giving something that doesn't turn out good. At least for home economics I can say it was mandatory, but you're not required to give anyone Valentines chocolate."_

 _Sasagawa smiled. "I'm sure the chocolate will turn out nice. We're all making it together after all."_

 _The next morning, you walked into class with the chocolate in a bag. You walked to your seat, waiting for the trio to arrive. As expected Yamamoto had his hands full with all the chocolate he received, Gokudera was scowling at the girls who even tried to give him chocolate, and for Sawada it was just any other ordinary day._

" _Morning." you greeted, as they settled into their seats._

 _Gokudera continued to scowl, glaring at the girls lined outside of the classroom. "Goddamn holiday. You'd think they'd get the hint about not following us around."_

" _If you think they're bad right now, wait until we graduate and they're chasing you guys around for your second button." you replied, staring at the endless mob._

 _Gokudera shuddered at the thought._

" _Speaking of Valentines Day," you brought out the bag and placed it on the desk. "I thought I'd try to make chocolate."_

 _You pulled out the three rectangular shaped boxes and handed it to each of the boys. Gokudera stared at it questionably._

" _Don't give it that look, it actually tastes good! Sasagawa and Miura helped with it."_

 _He continued looking skeptical. "I don't want it."_

" _Fine then." you glared, passing the box to Sawada. "You can have two boxes Sawada. Yamamoto gets enough chocolate from his fans anyway."_

" _Oh, yeah thanks…" he muttered._

" _It wouldn't kill you to show a little more gratitude. I swear it doesn't taste bad!" you defended. "Just try it."_

 _You reached over, tearing off the packaging. Opening the box, you grabbed a piece of chocolate and shoved it into Sawada's mouth._

 _He apprehensively chewed, his expression changing into one of pleasant surprise. "Wow it's actually delicious."_

" _Told you so." you grinned. "I'm expecting something nice for White Day."_

* * *

 _The month passed by and White Day was slowly creeping up. However, with the school year ending, it had completely slipped your mind. So when you woke up to Yamamoto in your house on a Saturday morning, you were definitely surprised._

" _Why?" was the only word to come out of your mouth when you walked downstairs. You were still in your pajamas and had just washed your face._

 _Your mom was setting tea and snacks on the table, while Yamamoto was seated on the rug playing with Chika and Chiaki. Yamamoto looked up at you, beaming his usual smile. "I didn't think you were the type to sleep in."_

" _Onee-chan!" squealed Chika, running towards you from Yamamoto's side. "Take-nii brought you a White Day gift."_

 _You raised a brow. "Oh yeah that's coming up. You're a few days early though?"_

" _My gift is going to take up most of the day, so I thought doing it on the weekend would be more convenient."_

" _What are you planning that could take all day?" you asked._

" _Get dressed and you'll find out." he smiled._

 _You furrowed your brows, before heading back up stairs. Chika excitedly followed behind. Once you two entered your room, she threw open your closet doors._

" _Onee-chan you absolutely have to wear a dress!" she shouted, her eyes sparkling._

" _I'd rather not."_

 _She immediately pouted. "He's taking you on a date though! You have to dress nicely. Besides you didn't even tell me you gave Take-nii chocolate."_

 _You rolled your eyes. "Firstly, it's not a date. Secondly, I made chocolate for all the boys, not just Yamamoto. Lastly, it's not your business Chika._

" _Please Onee-chan." she pleaded. "He's giving you a gift, wouldn't it be rude to look anything other than presentable?"_

 _Chika definitely made a logically sound argument and disagreeing would be a waste of time considering how stubborn she was._

" _Fine, but nothing excessive." you warned._

 _She cheered, pulling out a sleeveless navy blue dress. The top half of the dress was simple while the bottom was pleated. As you were getting changed, Chika threw an oversized black cardigan onto your bed and began digging for shoes._

" _I think you're better off wearing your white sneakers Onee-chan. If you try to walk around in heels, you wouldn't even make it out the door."_

 _You looked at yourself in the mirror; impressed that Chika could pull together an outfit so quickly. You went over to ruffle her hair as thanks. "You're pretty talented Chika."_

 _She brightly smiled. "Playing dress up is fun. If you ever need help picking out clothes you know where to come."_

" _I'll keep that in mind."_

 _The two of you headed back to the living room to see Chiaki and Yamamoto playing a card game._

" _Yamamoto," you called him. "I'm ready, let's go."_

 _He stood up, saying his farewells to your family. You both exited the house and he grabbed his bike, which was resting near the front gate._

" _You even brought your bike?" you asked. "How far are we going exactly?"_

 _He got onto the bike, patting the back. "Hop on. We have to stop by somewhere first."_

 _You seated yourself, gripping onto the back of his shirt with one hand. He snorted._

" _You might want to hold on tighter than that."_

" _Why? Are you trying to kill me?" you joked, as he began pedaling._

 _He speeded down the road and on instinct you wrapped your arms tightly around his waist. You clung onto him until he slowly came to a stop. As Yamamoto lifted his hands off the handlebar, he looked down at your arms still hugging his waist. Your eyes were shut and your face buried into his back. The front of his shirt was balled up into the harsh grip of your fists. You heard him chuckle and could already envision his amused expression._

" _Kobayashi we're here."_

 _You opened your eyes, retracting your arms. You looked around only to see the front of Yamamoto's restaurant. "Your house?"_

" _Just to pick something up." he headed inside, motioning for you to follow._

" _Takeshi!" his father greeted. "It's in the back."_

 _Yamamoto walked behind the counter and into the kitchen, while you waited near the door for him. You bowed to his father, who gestured you to a seat at the counter. The two of you exchanged pleasantries until Yamamoto came out with a giant lunchbox in his hands._

" _We can head out now."_

 _You nodded, bowing to his father once more before trailing behind Yamamoto. He placed the lunchbox in the bike basket and the two of you set off. You took precautions and placed your arms firmly around his waist this time._

" _Don't worry, I won't go too fast." he reassured you._

 _You squinted your eyes. "Don't tell me you did it earlier to prove a point."_

 _He chuckled. "A tiny bit, but seeing how scared you were…"_

" _I was not scared." you denied, your face heating up at the blatant lie._

" _Sure." he whistled. He turned back to you, moving a hand to ruffle your hair._

 _You grasped the sides of his shirt and screeched out. "Oh my god, both eyes on the road, and both hands on the bar!"_

" _Don't worry, I'm a pro!" he laughed._

" _Are you trying to give me the gift of death today because you are really doing a good job then."_

 _Both of you continued riding for almost 20 minutes, halting at the base of a widened staircase. He parked his bike, locking it to the railing. He lifted the lunchbox from the basket and proceeded to climb up the stairs. Even with Yamamoto slowing down his pace to walk up with you, you were still struggling._

" _How long is this staircase?" you huffed, out of breath._

" _It's just a bit more." he replied. "Do you want to take a break?"_

" _No." you shook your head. "Let's keep going."_

 _The further you climbed, the heavier your legs felt. At this point your thighs were so sore they were basically numb. You lifted your left leg up to the next step, however your toe hit the edge of it causing you to stumble forward. Thankfully, Yamamoto steadied you in time, preventing any injuries. He held your hand until you both reached the top. Once there, you collapsed onto the bench._

" _How?" you asked. "You're completely fine."_

" _We run up those steps for practice every morning."_

 _You nodded, gulping down a bottle of water. "Why'd we have to come here?"_

 _He pointed behind you, displaying a breathtakingly gorgeous view of Namimori. "If you come early enough, you can even see the sunrise."_

 _You relished at the light breeze that cupped your face as you took in a deep breath. "This is nice. You know I'm not one for nature though."_

" _I figured you'd like this place because it's not very crowded."_

" _Jeez I wonder why?" you sarcastically asked, side eying the staircase._

 _Yamamoto opened the lunchbox and you two began to eat. He told you that the homemade sushi was his white day gift in return for the homemade chocolate. You had to admit you were rather impressed that he made most of it himself. The rest of your outing was spent with lighthearted conversation and the occasional snarky retort. You two decided to leave when the sun had started to set. Yamamoto dropped you off in front of your gate where you thanked him for the thoughtfully planned day._

" _Next time we should go there with everyone else." you suggested. "Although I doubt anyone other than you can make it up the staircase without losing their breath."_

" _Yeah of course. Night then." he smiled, waving goodbye and riding away._

* * *

"Did I just go on a date with Yamamoto?" you asked yourself in disbelief. "He's liked me since 9th grade? Unbelievable."

You stared at the passage, thoroughly reading each word once again. What really stood out to you was how dense you seemed to be. He planned a whole day out to a special location, invited no one else, and made you a lunchbox all for White Day? Friends don't go out of their way for White Day presents. If you were talking about equal exchange then his homemade lunchbox would've been more than enough.

You shook your head in disdain. "Please tell me I wasn't that surprised when he dropped a confession. That stupidity would really be on another level."

* * *

 _When White Day finally arrived you went to Sawada's house to help him with homework. You were seated on opposite ends of the table. While he was doing work, you were reading a book._

" _Kobayashi?" called out Sawada._

" _Do you need help?" you asked, looking up from your book._

 _He shook his head, handing you a white package. "Here, it's your white day present."_

 _You tilted your head, wondering what it could be. The thickness and the shape reminded you of some kind of workbook. "Can I unwrap it?"_

 _He nodded. You tore off the paper to reveal a lavender colored journal with a small heart shaped lock and matching key._

" _I always see you writing in similar notebooks, so I thought that it would be nice to have a spare on hand. If you don't like it I have the receipt somewhere."_

" _No, it's nice! I really like it Sawada. Thanks." you smiled. "In fact I'm glad it's a journal because I was seriously convinced you had bought me a test prep book."_

" _At first I was considering it, but you've probably done most of them." he replied. "Besides in Midori High your schoolwork will probably keep you busy, so you won't have to do extra work."_

" _Midori High? I'm not going to Midori High. Where'd you hear that from?" you asked._

" _You were studying really hard during admission exams, so I just thought… If you're not going to Midori then where are you going?"_

" _Namimori High where else? You guys know you wouldn't last a day in school without me. Moving onto more interesting topics, what did you get Sasagawa for White Day?"_

" _I think I should get back to my work." he suggested, obviously avoiding the question._

" _You're no fun." you grumbled, determined to eventually pester him into telling you._

* * *

It was evident that a year from now you were much more comfortable with Sawada and company, but it was still interesting to note that you hadn't even tried to take any entrance exams. Namimori High was more convenient to travel to and most of the students from Nami Middle ended up there. In retrospect it did make sense as to why you made the choice.

Mapping out all your decisions to see where you went wrong wasn't proving to be as simple as you thought it would have been. From what Chika said it seemed like you had become a completely different person, but in reality you had just grown to like the company around you. Now how that turned you into a traitor had yet to be answered.

* * *

 _The first step you took through the gates you thought that you couldn't wait until those three years just flew by. The faster they were over the better. Now that the day to leave had finally come, it was impossible to feel anything but nostalgia. Today was the graduation ceremony, your last day as a third year of Nami Middle._

 _After the ceremony had finished you lined up to take pictures with everyone else. You spotted Sawada who watched the ever-growing crowd around Sasagawa. Everyone needed to get a picture with the school's favorite idol of course. You lightly elbowed his rib, nudging him to go up to her._

" _You're her friend, you know? It's much weirder to watch her from the corner like a stalker."_

" _I'll just wait until the crowd dies down." he exasperatedly spoke._

" _Are Gokudera and Yamamoto still hiding from their fans?" you questioned._

 _On cue Gokudera whispered out from behind a tree. "Tenth! I'm over here!"_

 _He had taken his uniform blazer off and had it tucked under his arm. He hastily checked both ways before running towards you two. He pulled out five buttons from his pocket, stuffing them into Sawada's hands._

" _I came to school without a second button, but that didn't stop them. They kept chasing me for whatever button was left, so I ripped them all off. I want you to have them Tenth."_

" _That's not quite the confession you were hoping for." you commented noting Sawada's bewildered expression. "Actually our uniforms really aren't suitable for the second button practice. It's supposed to be done with the gakuran which isn't as commonly worn in modern day."_

 _Gokudera scoffed at your useless trivia. "Doesn't stop them from hunting people down."_

 _The crowd around Sasagawa lessened and so you all headed there to get pictures. Yamamoto, who had no buttons left on his blazer, arrived as well. Afterwards the group went to the usual celebratory location, TakeSushi. Everyone settled down and started eating. Conversations and laughter filled the restaurant._

 _Sasagawa reached over for a piece of sushi, the silver around her wrist peeking out. You stared at the bracelet, certain that Sasagawa normally didn't wear one. She noticed your expression and smiled back._

" _Tsuna-kun gave it to me for White Day." she explained._

 _You nodded and smiled back. "It's pretty."_

 _In the past half of the month you had pestered Sawada to no end about what he gave Sasagawa for White Day, yet he hadn't told you at all. It was odd. Was he embarrassed about it? A bracelet is a pretty good gift though. Or was it because you and Sasagawa had virtually given him the same gift, while she got something more extravagant? It was a given though considering you were just his friend and she was his crush._

 _You decided to drop the thought because in the end no matter how close you thought you were there were bound to be things you both kept hidden._

* * *

 **Daily life chapters are always so much fun to write. KHR before it got super serious is so under appreciated. Highlights of this chapter are most definitely Yamamoto and Kobayashi's kinda date as well as how much more open she is with everyone. I thought I'd just ramble about how I like that in Tsuna and Kobayashi's pairing, Kobayashi is the one to tease Tsuna, but with Yamamoto and her, she's the one being messed with. I'm honestly considering just writing a spin off where Yamamoto and Kobayashi get together anyway just bc the relationship has grown on me.**

 **I feel like such a hypocrite bc I'm literally throwing Yamamoto in everyone's face while screaming Tsuna is going to happen lol. More scenes with Tsuna will happen in later chapters, patience is key is all I can really say. This chapter marks the end of middle school flashbacks and next chapter will be the start of high school flashbacks. It will jump around through the years, not sure how yet. The beginning of their freshman year will definitely be included and from there maybe just some isolated incidents. If it ends up getting too long there will probably be another chapter of flashbacks.**

 **As always thank you to everyone who has read and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think! I am so appreciative of every single review. Also if anyone ever notices some kind of spelling/grammar/syntax/ or whatever other issue feel free to tell me bc I tend to miss them until I reread my chapters like months later. Thanks again!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm finally on my summer vacation, so hopefully updates will be more common. We'll see lol**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR**

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _A month into high school and of course it is nothing like what I expected. Everyone being split into different classes? That wasn't anything particularly surprising or upsetting._

You recalled the first day of school, when you checked the board where the class lists were posted. Sawada, Sasagawa and you were in class A while Gokudera and Yamamoto were in class B. Aside from Gokudera's threats to bomb the place and his terribly explicit cursing, everyone had accepted the separation. With much cajoling from Sawada, Gokudera begrudgingly agreed to calm down as well. There wasn't anything anyone could do anyway, and there was still time during lunch, after school, and the weekends. Being in different classes wasn't going to change anything.

 _Being thrown into the class representative position once again? It was exactly what I had expected, so no complaints about that._

"Class representative will be the student who is ranked first on this test." announced the teacher, passing sheets of paper down the row. "This is all material you should have already covered from middle school, so if there is anything you don't understand, I suggest you begin reviewing."

You stared at the problems with a smirk, hastily scribbling away. The next day you had received your 100 as well as the title of class rep.

 _No, the problem here was him and his incessant pestering._

"Kobayashi Michiko! There you are!"

A rowdy voice called out to you through a megaphone. He stood by the school entrance, waving his arms ecstatically to get your attention, as if you hadn't noticed him already. You ducked down behind the crowd, covering your face with your hand. Even if he had seen you, there was no way you would acknowledge him.

Your eyes were glued to the ground while you shuffled along with the crowd. You immediately felt an arm intertwine with yours and pull you to the side.

"Kobayashi Michiko! Now where did you think you were going? You're late for our morning meeting." he scolded.

You groaned. "I already told you I am not joining the student council."

"I told you, you'll change your mind. Now let's get going to the council room. You know Kinoshita-kun is already ahead of you in the game. Keep this up and you'll never get to be president."

"I don't want to be president!" you protested while he dragged you away.

* * *

You had no intentions of joining any clubs in high school. The whole reason you went to Namimori High School was because you knew the work would be light and leave you with extra time to pursue other interests. Yet somehow you had found yourself involved with the student council within the first week of school.

Clubs had started promoting themselves and everyone had gone to visit the different booths that were set up in the school yard. Over the next few days all anyone in the classroom had talked about were the clubs they planned to join. You were talking to Sawada, who had yet to sign up for any clubs.

"With all the training Reborn has been making me do I don't think I'd have any time for clubs." he reasoned.

"Well you also suck at sports." you teased. "Besides can you even imagine how much trouble you'd get into if Reborn decided to butt in?"

"I'd probably be kicked out in the first week." he laughed.

The classroom door slid open, drawing your attention to a tall, lean built boy. His black hair was slightly overgrown with the ends reaching to the back of his neck and his bangs messily falling in front of his face. He wore his uniform rather sloppily, the tie loosely wrapped around his neck and the top buttons of his shirt undone.

"Kobayashi Michiko?" he peered into the room, searching for a reaction.

You raised your hand and called out. "Yes?"

He softly smiled, before heading in your direction. "I'm Sakamoto Yuuto, a third year. Nice to meet you!"

He stretched out his hand, which you confusedly shook. He kept your hand clasped in his for an oddly inappropriate amount of time, so you attempted to retract it. He continued to tightly clutch your hand, trying to lead you out of the classroom with him. He pulled you along, causing you to stumble forward.

"Hey, let go of me!" you protested, trying to shake off his hand.

Sawada witnessing the debacle quickly intervened, firmly grasping the older male by the wrist. "Excuse me, but you're making her uncomfortable."

The boy blinked, glancing back and forth between Sawada and the hand that was currently intertwined with yours. His eyes widened in realization and quickly dropped your hand.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize your boyfriend was here nor that he would be so jealous." he bowed.

A blush spread on Sawada's cheeks while he furiously waved his hands in denial. You furrowed your brows. "What? No. It's because you just came in here and tried to drag me out of the room without explaining anything."

Sakamoto tilted his head, questioningly gazing at the two of you. "I didn't?"

You squinted your eyes, already tired of the upperclassman's nonsense. You turned to glance at Sawada who had already put a hand on your forearm, what you knew by now as a sign to calm yourself. You deeply exhaled before sharply replying 'no'

"I'm the student council president and I'm here to relay a message from the student council. You, Kobayashi Michiko, are a candidate for recruit. I was planning on taking you to the council room to meet the other members."

"No thanks, I'm not interested."

"Are you sure because-"

"Nope." You cut him off. As Sakamoto began his rebuttal, the teacher walked in signaling the end of the break.

"You'll definitely change your mind. Don't worry though, I'll be back" he shouted, running off.

With a groan you plopped into your seat, hoping he would not be back.

* * *

Before you could finish packing your bag, you noticed a small group of people peeking into the classroom, one of whom you recognized from earlier. Unfortunately, he was back and had decided to bring company.

Sakamoto beamed at you from the doorway, excitedly waving. You grimaced, making an effort to not look in their direction. They stood by the doorway waiting for you to exit. You wished you could leap out of the window instead. Sawada stood by your desk, also noticing the crowd.

"Maybe you should just give it a try?" he suggested. "Just to get them to give you some space?"

"The second I agree, there's no way out. Have you seen how stubborn that president is?"

"Kobayashi~" sang out Sakamoto, attempting to catch your attention.

You rolled your eyes, looking at Sawada for a solution. "Don't you have any better ideas? Why not help me out? There's a window right there and it's a much shorter drop from here than it is from the roof."

"I can't just jump out of the window! I'm not in hyper dying will mode."

"You have your pills with you, don't you?" you countered. "Consider it a favor for all the times I've helped you."

Sawada sighed, pushing you towards the door. "Jumping out of the window isn't going to solve your problem. Go talk to them."

"See if I ever help you again." you muttered.

"Hi Kobayashi!" Sakamoto smiled down at you. "I was wondering how much longer it would take you. If you always take this long, you'll end up missing our afterschool meetings you know."

"That's the plan." you mumbled.

"Now let's get going." he cheerfully hooked his arm with yours and walked down the hall.

You looked back at Sawada, throwing one last pleading look for help only to get an awkward smile and thumbs up.

* * *

In the student council room, the six of you were seated at a small round table reluctantly going through introductions.

 _Sakamoto Yuuto was the persistent and always cheerful president. Oddly enough he reminds me of Yamamoto, except instead of having a baseball obsession his obsession was the student council. He's a lot more persistent and a lot denser than Yamamoto though. Yamamoto at least eventually agreed to compromise. Sakamoto-senpai on the other hand couldn't stop pushing what he thought was best._

Following Sakamoto, was a petite black-haired girl wearing glasses. She shyly smiled at the members introducing herself as Fujimoto Ayako, the vice president.

 _Fujimoto-senpai may have appeared to be well mannered, but behind her sugarcoated voice she was very blunt with her words. I don't blame her considering how the president acts. Someone would have to be there to keep him in check._

Then there was the treasurer, second year Takagi Emi. From the way she restlessly tapped her fingers against the desk and the rapid pace her leg was shaking you could tell she was a hyperactive girl. As her turn came, she slammed all of her finger down onto the wood and shrieked out her name. The rest of the room visibly flinched at the noise. She blushed red when Fujimoto politely suggested she refrain from such volume while indoors.

 _Takagi-senpai was always on the go. No matter when or where, she was always found moving. From shaking her shoulders, to pacing around the room, there was no possible way to make the girl still. She was an uncontainable force constantly emitting energy._

The boy seated across from Takagi was still scowling her way as he stood up. He curtly introduced himself as Sugiyama Reo, the secretary.

 _Sugiyama-senpai was the exact opposite of everyone else in the council, which makes me wonder why he was still working with them. There wasn't a day he didn't glare at the others or tell them to quiet down. He existed in a state of perpetual annoyance._

The only other person left was boy sitting to your right. He glanced over at you, wondering which of you two should go first. Seeing as you made no move to stand, he took the opportunity to introduce himself.

 _Kinoshita Riku, the other first year recruit of the student council. He looked like the average first year, his voice a little shaky and his lips pulled up in an anxious smile_.

It was now your turn. You didn't bother to stand up from your seat, instead opting for a concise one liner. "Kobayashi Michiko, I don't plan to come back."

With that you grabbed your bag, stood up, and walked out the door. However, you hadn't realized that your stunt and made Sakamoto more determined to recruit you.

* * *

From the next morning onwards, Sakamoto continued to pester you about joining the student council. Every morning he would wait for you by the gate and right after classes ended he would already be waiting outside of your classroom. Despite your efforts to come at different times or try different entrances, Sakamoto would always manage to find you. That is why this morning once again you were stuck sitting at the round table in the student council room, watching as he enthusiastically described the weekly plan.

"Our school hasn't been heavily enforcing the recycling policy, so that is why you guys are going to help separate the trash and put up these new posters explaining what goes into each bin." he instructed.

You let out an audible groan as he pointed to you and Kinoshita. For the past two weeks, you had both been subject to all the grunt work of the council. Insurmountable piles of paperwork, filing, volunteer work for other clubs, among other things. Apparently, this was the norm for first year student council recruits. By the time college entrance exams came around, the third years would leave the council to the second and first years, so by doing menial tasks you were being groomed to fill in the shoes of your leaving upperclassmen. At this point you truly had to wonder why anyone would want to be a part of this club.

Kinoshita and you went through the halls, lifting up the lids of the garbage cans. Thankfully it was still early so the bags were mostly empty aside from the occasional can or scrap of paper. Most of today's work would be hanging up posters which was the easiest task you had been assigned since you had met that damned Sakamoto.

"Are you okay?" asked Kinoshita, a smile small on his lips and an eyebrow quirked in your direction.

"I'm fine." you responded, your voice flat. You pushed the piece of paper against the board, harshly jabbing the thumbtack into the corners.

"Oh, well you were muttering something really angrily underneath your breath so…" his voice trailed off. He walked down the hallway to the next pair of trash bins, lifting the lids off of them.

"If you've already come to a conclusion on your own, why ask me?" you snipped back, trudging behind him.

His rummaged through the bag with gloved hands, his smile unwavering as he quickly changed the topic. "I noticed you don't really enjoy being part of the council. Why don't you just quit?"

You scoffed, arms crossed. "You think I wouldn't if I could? Sakamoto-senpai is insane. He's been dragging me around no matter how many times I reject."

Kinoshita chuckled, pulling a plastic bottle and tossing it into the proper bin. "He's an interesting character. I thought you would've liked him."

"What do you mean by that?" you spat out your question rather distastefully. "What part of me looks like I like him? If anything, I just barely tolerate his antics."

"Ah well, we were in the same middle school. You used to hang around some colorful characters back then. Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Sawada. Yamamoto was pretty normal, but Gokudera was known for his temper and Sawada used to run around in his underwear for a while, so I just figured you got along well with interesting people."

You chuckled thinking back to the days when Sawada's clothes ripping apart was a daily occurrence. In retrospect it hadn't been that long ago, although you now felt like a different person. Those were the times you had disliked everyone and actively avoided any socializing, but the same people you hated were now your closest friends. You always told yourself to try new things, maybe you should be more accepting of Sakamoto's strangely fiery passion concerning student council.

Kinoshita reached over for the lid, placing it back onto the container. He gestured for you to attach the flyer to the wall. As you laid it flat on the wall and pulled out a piece of tape, he began speaking again.

"Sawada really was an odd one though. They had a nickname for him. It really stuck to him throughout middle school. What was it?" he pondered. His mouth twisted, and his eyes furrowed as he struggled to recall the nickname which you still, to this day, could not stand. "Oh right! No good Tsuna." he laughed hysterically, as if he had never heard anything funnier.

You glared at him and could feel your face heating up with rage. "Seriously? It's not funny and it never was."

You dropped the stack of flyers and bag of supplies onto the ground, walking away. Kinoshita called after you, but you only sped up, hoping that he would prioritize the task instead of chasing after you. You had too much to say, but it wasn't worth mentioning to someone like that. He wouldn't care that even with all his imperfections Sawada was a good person who genuinely cared for those around him. Or that even though he was much stronger than the people who had mocked him, he had learned to let it go because he now had friends to rely on. Or that if Sawada heard anyone calling him no good now he would probably let it off with a small laugh, even though it was still painful to hear. People like Kinoshita didn't care, so why waste your words on him?

You walked to your classroom and sat at your desk. You crossed your arms on the desk, laying your head down and closing your eyes. You took in the sound of people slowly entering the room, shuffling through their desks and pulling out chairs.

"Good morning Kobayashi." greeted Sawada, peering down at you.

You turned your head to face him, eying him up and down. His brown hair was still an untamable mess, his orange eyes still soft yet bright. The only thing that had changed since you had first met him was the way he carried himself. He stood more confidently, his shoulders no longer hunched over in the hopes of hiding himself, instead they were pulled back while he kept his head held up high. A smile fell on your lips, reaching up to your eyes as you stared at him fondly. "Morning."

"You're here a lot earlier than usual. Student council didn't take too long?" he asked.

If there was anyone you didn't want to talk about student council with right now it was Sawada. Not after the issue with Kinoshita. "I ditched." you answered truthfully, shrugging your shoulders.

"You've been exhausted recently. Maybe you should talk to the president about quitting?" he suggested.

You let out a small snort. The tables had turned since middle school and now Sawada was giving you advice. For every day you had been involuntarily working with the student council, Sawada would make it a point to suggest you tell the president you want to quit. Sawada insists that if you properly sit down and talk to Sakamoto there isn't any way he would be able to disagree. Ironically enough it sounded like advice you had given him in the past.

* * *

"I'll do it today after school."

As the day came to an end you saw Fujimoto waiting by the classroom door rather than Sakamoto. You apprehensively approached her prepared to make your argument. You were confident that Fujimoto would give in more quickly than Sakamoto who seemed to turn a blind eye to anything that didn't follow his plans. However, before you could speak, Fujimoto informed you that you didn't have to attend today because Sakamoto wouldn't be there. She bowed, leaving you standing at the doorway.

You walked back to Sawada informing him of the news. You supposed that you would just let him know the next morning. However, when you came to school Sakamoto wasn't waiting by the gate. Sugiyama leaned against the brick wall, letting out a large yawn. His eyes darted through the crowds of students, stomping towards you when he spotted you. His eyes were narrowed down at you as he spoke four words.

"Fujimoto-senpai council room now." He pointed at the school building, eyes still squinting at you.

You got the message and scurried into the student council room. Inside stood Fujimoto and Kinoshita. Kinoshita lifted a hand up in a feeble attempt to wave at you which you brushed off with a disgusted look.

"Where's Sakamoto-senpai?" you questioned.

"He's a bit busy, so I'm going to be taking over with briefing you two today." she replied.

As she distributed the tasks, you were grateful to not have to work with Kinoshita. Instead you were to stay inside and help with the paperwork, while he was sent to the faculty office to help them organize files. You watched Fujimoto, directly seated across from you scribble away, and figured now would be the best time to tell her.

"Fujimoto-senpai, I don't want to be part of student council."

She didn't bother to look up, her pen still scratching against the paper. She hummed in acknowledgment of your statement.

"I want to quit. In fact, you all know I never wanted to join in the first place."

"Then why are you still here?" she asked.

"Sakamoto-senpai keeps dragging me along into everything. I wanted to talk to him and formally reject his offer."

She finally looked up, placing her pen to the side. She folded her hands and smiled. "I know Yuuto-kun is very obstinate about having his way. Honestly even I have to agree he's very immature and childish, but there's a reason he's so insistent on you joining Kobayashi-san. You don't have very many friends do you?"

You stared in confusion at her statement. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You don't. You have the same small group of friends and don't talk to anyone outside of that group correct? When Yuuto-kun first entered this school, he didn't know anyone. Despite how he acts now, he was terribly shy and didn't know how to properly socialize. He's had sickly health since he was young, always moving from one hospital to the next, so he had never been around kids his own age. In our first year Yuuto-kun and I were chosen to be members of the student council. Of course, he didn't change right away, but the president at the time was someone Yuuto-kun looked up to. The president was outgoing, sociable, involved, and respected by most of the students. For Yuuto-kun, student council was what allowed him to connect to others, so he wants to do the same for you."

You blankly blinked at Fujimoto as if asking why she thought a sob story of all things would convince you to stay with the council. Before you could respond, she sighed.

"It's such a shame if you quit. I don't know how I'll break the news to Yuuto-kun. I didn't want to have to tell anyone this because I didn't want you all to worry, but he left early yesterday because he wasn't feeling well. This morning too, he sent me a message saying he stayed in the hospital overnight."

You clicked your tongue. "Fujimoto-senpai are you really trying to convince me to stay through guilt? Besides how do I know you're not lying about his supposed condition?"

Fujimoto's smile did not falter, as she stood up and walked to the cabinets. Skimming through folders, she pulled out a file and slid it over the desk to you. She plopped back into her chair and folded her hands together. You rolled your eyes, flipping the folder open. The contents were years of detailed medical records. You flipped through the sheets, eyes growing as you found out that Fujimoto was indeed telling the truth. You closed the folder shut, only able to whisper out a hushed apology.

"Sakamoto-senpai isn't going to die right?" you asked, trying to keep your voice steady.

Fujimoto merely shrugged. "We'll have to see how his health maintains itself. If you still want to quit though I can just cross your name off of our club register right now. I don't have to submit it until the end of the day anyway."

You shook your head. "Um, no it's fine. I think I'll just stay."

"Perfect." She replied, picking her pen up and going back to work.

* * *

You stared out the window at the sky, watching a white cloud pass by.

"Hey Kobayashi?" Sawada waved a hand in front of your face, attempting to catch your attention. "Are you okay?"

"Do you ever think about how life is just so fleeting Sawada?" you asked, melancholily looking back at him.

"What?!" he shouted out. You had briefed him on your morning talk with Fujimoto-senpai including the truth about Sakamoto-senpai's recent absence. "You're telling me that he will die if you tell him about quitting?"

"It seems more like it'll stress him out which will worsen his condition and then he'll die. I just don't want me to be the trigger."

"Kobayashi, I understand that you're worried, but isn't this a bit much? Are you really that important?"

"That's definitely something you say to someone in a crisis Sawada. You have such a way with words." you sarcastically retorted. "It's fine, Fujimoto-senpai has to submit the list of club members today anyway. I'll manage."

* * *

Today after classes ended, no one was waiting by the door to pick you up. You assumed they only did so previously as an attempt to convince you to join. And so, today was the first day you walked into the student council room unaccompanied out of your own volition. Standing in front of the door you let out a giant breath and slid open the door. Waiting to greet you inside was Sakamoto-senpai, looking, if possible, more cheerful than he had looked before his absence. You gulped, bowing your head to him in acknowledgment.

"I heard you finally agreed to join the student council Kobayashi!" he smiled, flashing his teeth. "You won't regret it. Just wait until you find out about all the new tasks we have planned out. It'll be our best year here."

You uncomfortably smiled back, nodding your head. Was he really okay or was he overcompensating as a cover?

"Come now! Take a seat." he said, gesturing you towards the chair he pulled out. "We have to go over today's game plan."

You nodded, slowly seating yourself. Knowing that Sakamoto-senpai was deathly ill made you observe his actions more closely. It was odd knowing something so big, despite him not knowing you knew. You knew you were supposed to act natural, but your mind was racing with curiosity.

"So any questions?" he asked, finishing the briefing while you had been daydreaming.

"Um…" you hesitated. You had no clue what he had just gone over, but you knew if he repeated it you would still be unfocused. "No, I think I'll be fine."

He squinted his eyes at you, inspecting your expression. "Is something wrong Kobayashi? You seem distracted. If there's anything you need to talk about, feel free to discuss with me."

"Oh. I'm fine, I'm just a little tired. You should look after yourself. You did miss the last two meetings."

You knew it wasn't appropriate to probe, but you couldn't help yourself. He noticed something was off. If you were going to lie through your teeth, you might as well try to gain some information out of it.

"It was nothing too serious." he smiled back, now seated next to you, while resting his cheek on his palm. "Thank you for your concern."

"Fujimoto-senpai told me about what happened though, so it would be best not to exert yourself."

He blinked in confusion, his eyebrows furrowed. "Ayako-chan told you? I didn't tell her to hide it, but I don't think you have to worry too much."

It was now your turn to be confused. "Aren't you dying?"

His expression was one of genuine confusion as he responded. "Even if I was sick I don't think the flu would kill me."

"The flu?" you shouted out. "Fujimoto-senpai told me you were terminally ill with a heart defect, she even had documents!"

You were flabbergasted. That girl had not only lied to you but created false evidence to support it. On top of that she lied to you that he would physically die from news of your departure. Was she sick in the head?

"There isn't anything of that sort going on with me. My mom caught the flu, so I had to leave early to pick up my younger sister from school. She still wasn't feeling well so I dropped my sister off at school this morning before coming into class." he explained.

"Then what about all those thing Fujimoto-senpai told me? Does she just like to lie to people?"

On cue Fujimoto-senpai entered the room, her lips curved into her usual small smile. "Nice to see you back Yuuto-kun. Good evening to you too Kobayashi-san."

Sakamoto-senpai casually greeted her, directly questioning her about the story you were told. Fujimoto-senpai blinked back, before raising a hand to her mouth feigning shock.

"Oh, Kobayashi-san I didn't think you would take me seriously. It was a small joke."

You stared at her, perturbed. "You think lying about being sick is a joke?"

Sakamoto-senpai put a hand to his chin, contemplating the situation. "Ayako-chan is a bit of a trickster, but this is going a little too far."

"A little?" you screamed out. "I thought you were dying!"

"Now, now Kobayashi-san." she spoke, putting a hand out to you. "I didn't expect to play this trick so early. I was saving it for later to use on the rest of the members too. Besides Yuuto-kun was the one who gave me the idea."

"I did?" he asked, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, trying to recollect his memories.

"Yes, you did." she confirmed. She headed towards the cabinet, pulling out the files and spreading them out on the table for him to see.

His eyes widened upon the sight of the documents, laughing out in disbelief. "I can't believe I forgot about this. You see Kobayashi, the president from when I was a freshman pulled a similar prank on us. I told Ayako-chan that we should do the same to the freshman when we're in charge."

He fondly smiled at the papers and began to gather them. He passed them back to Fujimoto-senpai while you struggled to search for words to express how you were feeling.

"So, everything you told me this morning was a lie?" you stared up at Fujimoto-senpai.

She shook her head. "Not completely. It's true that you don't have many friends." Her statement earned a glare from you.

"We chose you because we look at the class representative for each class. They're the ones with the highest grades in the class, so if they join student council there's less of a chance of their grades being affected with the workload. All the other representatives had the intention of joining a club, so they couldn't be a part of student council. From what our records show, you have never been involved in club activities, thus you were the only other choice."

Your eye twitched in annoyance. "You're telling me, the only reason I'm here is because you couldn't find anyone else?"

She nodded. "More or less. It's too late for you to join another club anyway. The member registries were due today. It'll be nice working with you for the next year Kobayashi-san." She smiled.

 _I thought Sakamoto-senpai was bad, Fujimoto-senpai is insane. Every single one of them are out of their minds. I am so screwed._

* * *

 **I wanted to post this chapter up with another one because it would make more sense with how the council is relevant, but with how long this one was getting I figured I might as well post it now and post the next chapter within the next few days (hopefully). Here you can finally see the soft spot Kobayashi has for Sawada. All I can really say is expect more for them in the upcoming chapter. I probably plan on finishing up the past in 2 more chapters? Could change depending on the word count. As always thanks for everyone who read, followed, favorited, and liked!**


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